Overview

This book provides a unique perspective on Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) through the keen observations and first-hand insights of an active AAP volunteer and close personal friend of Kejriwal from his undergraduate days at IIT Kharagpur. They re-connected more than a decade after IIT at UC Berkeley when Kejriwal was on a visit while still actively running his NGO, Parivartan, and have remained in contact ever since. The book captures Kejriwal ‘s transition from a social activist to becoming the brain behind the India Against corruption movement, to the founding of AAP, its dramatic rise to power, the sudden resignation, and its sweeping return to power in 2015, up until the recent internal power struggle within AAP. The book describes the extensive use of technology by the party with first hand details of how some of the most brilliant minds in the business contributed valuable time, energy and knowhow to the party, entirely on a voluntary basis. It addresses in detail the role of NRIs in AAP, the role of AAP’s army of volunteers, and the associated challenges in managing their expectations and streamlining their efforts. The book covers several interesting anecdotes from private meetings in Berkeley, Goa, NY and Dubai that Kejriwal attended with friends, and provides rare insights and explodes popular myths about his leadership, his frequent references to God, and his personality in general. Through the book, the author draws upon his entrepreneurial and management experience to establish parallels between the AAP and happenings in startup companies. Finally, it looks at the aftermath of AAP’s most recent power struggle, and the road ahead for AAP and its role in Indian politics.

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9789386141057

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Author Information

Pran Kurup is a technology entrepreneur and political observer and commentator who has been following and writing about Indian politics for close to a decade. He has been very closely involved with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since its inception on various fronts, including coordinating many of the efforts of the AAP NRI community. He has been authoring a very popular blog on the Economic Times website for several years. He was also instrumental in hosting over 100 Google Hangouts with AAP leaders, business leaders, candidates, social activists and others since its inception. He completed his undergraduate degree from IIT Kharagpur and his graduate degree from University of Miami, Florida, and has authored three technical books. He was the former President of the Silicon Valley India Professionals Association (SIPA).

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