Former corporate slaves, now aam aadmi MLAs: Meet Kejriwal's young brigade of lawmakers

As the national capital voted for change and people’s power, it’s now up to Kejriwal and his brigade to fulfil the city’s dreams. After the spectacular win, a dialogue from the movie Spiderman one resonates in one’s mind: “With great power comes great responsibility”. And there is another saying: “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

Will Kejriwal and his party be different? Only ‎time will tell.

But the party’s slogan of swaraj (self rule) will be very much visible in the Delhi assembly with the representation of different economic classes in the upcoming Kejriwal government. Here are a few newly-elected aam aadmi (common man) MLAs:

Praveen Kumar

Kumar, who defeated BJP’s Maninder Singh Dhir by a margin of 2,0450 votes from Jangpura constituency, comes from a below middle class family of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. His father PN Deshmukh runs a small bicycle repairing shop near Pul Bogda.

During his college days in Delhi, he taught street children at Modi Mill flyover in Okhla. After completing his MBA, he started working as a manager in MNC but left his job for social service. He joined the crusade against corruption under the leadership of Anna Hazare. He is one of the founding members of the AAP.

During the 49 days Kejriwal government in the national capital in 2013, he worked as an OSD to the then HRD Minister Manish Sisodia.

After winning the polls, Kumar told Firstpost, “Such a mandate has increased people’s aspiration and time has now come to meet their expectations by delivering poll promises. Resolving the local issues of my constituency will be my priority.”

Adarsh Shastri

Leaving an annual package of a crore-plus in computer and consumer electronics giant Apple and cellular phone service provider Vodafone, the 40-year-old grandson son of former Prime Minister late Lal Bahadur Shastri and son of veteran Congress leader Anil Shastri chose a job of serving people as their representative in the Delhi Assembly that promises no permanent income. He defeated BJP’s Parduymn Rajput by 39,366 votes in Dwarka.

“I took a plunge in the battle to make the system corruption free, leaving a cushy life as head of sales in western India for Apple. I was inspired by Arvind Kejriwal’s conviction and my conscience compelled me to give him strength in his crusade against corruption. Though my family carries a legacy of the Congress party, I told my father that I do not fit in the culture of the Grand Old Party. He told me to go ahead if this is my life’s calling,” he said, pledging to work for people tirelessly.

Rituraj Govind

A resident of Chakdaulat at Ujiarpur in Samastipur district of Bihar, 26-year-old Govind forayed into politics as an activist of Anna movement. Before joining AAP, the hotel management graduate working with a five-star hotel in Delhi. He defeated Anil Jha of the BJP by 45,172 votes in Kirari constituency, which has a strong vote base of Purvanchalis.

His native village celebrated Holi when he won the elections. Interestingly, Govind carries no political baggage with him. His father is a government teacher and mother a home maker. He is the only son and his sister works with a bank in Delhi.

“I bow my head before the electorates of my constituency who showed trust in me. My priority will be solving the problem of water and roads,” he told Firstpost.

Saurabh Bharadwaj

The soft-spoken, charming and smart computer science engineering graduate jumped into electoral politics in 2013 and defeated Ajay Malhotra, the son of veteran BJP leader VK Malhotra, by over 13,000 votes in his debut election from South Delhi’s Greater Kailash constituency, a stronghold of the saffron party.

He was included in the 49-day Kejriwal government as a cabinet minister and was assigned Food & Supplies, Transport and Environment ministries.

This year too, he defeated Rakesh Kumar Gullaiya of the BJP by 14,583 votes.

Talking to Firstpost after being declared as the winner, Bharadwaj said, “He had never anticipated such a result. This was not a wave, but a Tsunami. People voted for us because they were victims of the system and wanted change.”

Responding to a question on voting pattern in his constituency, he explained, “Only two sections of voters did not vote for me - those who are beneficiaries of the corrupt system and those who are indifferent.”

He said his party’s strategy would be to cooperate with the central government and all his colleagues, including chief minister designate Arvind Kejriwal, are “very well-prepared” this time around.

Asked about the weakest opposition, he said, “Media will be our main opposition.”