Saurabh Bharadwaj is an Indian politician from the Aam Aadmi Party, representing Greater Kailash constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly.[2] He was the Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board and Minister of Health, Urban development and water since 9 March 2023. He was stripped of his positions on 8 August 2023 and his ministries were given to PWD chief Atishi. He is also the National Chief Spokesperson Of the Aam Aadmi Party.
Saurabh Bharadwaj | |
|---|---|
| Cabinet Minister, Government of Delhi | |
| In office 9 March 2023 – 17 September 2024 | |
| Lieutenant Governor | Vinai Kumar Saxena |
| Chief Minister | Arvind Kejriwal |
| Ministry and Departments |
|
| Preceded by | Satyendra Kumar Jain |
| In office 28 December 2013 – 14 February 2014 | |
| Lieutenant Governor | Najeeb Jung |
| Ministry and Departments |
|
| Preceded by | Ramakant Goswami |
| Succeeded by | President's rule |
| Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 14 February 2015 | |
| Preceded by | President's rule |
| In office 28 December 2013 – 14 February 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Vijay Kumar Malhotra |
| Succeeded by | President's rule |
| Constituency | Greater Kailash |
| Vice Chairman of Delhi Jal Board | |
| Assumed office 22 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Raghav Chadha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 December 1979[1] New Delhi, India |
| Political party | Aam Aadmi Party |
| Spouse | Shivani Bharadwaj |
| Residence | New Delhi |
| Alma mater | Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Engineering Branch computer science Osmania University |
Early life and education
editBharadwaj was born in New Delhi and completed his early schooling from the city. He graduated as a Computer Science Engineer from Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Engineering affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in 2003. He has also completed a bachelor's degree in law from Osmania University in 2011.[3] Before entering politics, Bhardwaj worked with Johnson Controls India, and his expertise was in microchips and coding. Bhardwaj started his career as a software engineer in Invensys.[4]
Political career
editSaurabh Bhardwaj won the Greater Kailash assembly constituency, defeating Ajay Kumar Malhotra, son of the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and incumbent Leader of Opposition V.K. Malhotra, by 13092 votes in the 2013 Delhi Assembly election. In 2015, the young AAP leader defeated Rakesh Guliya of BJP by 14,583 votes. Bhardwaj was a Cabinet Minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government during the 49-day tenure between 28 December 2013 and 14 February 2014.
Bhardwaj shot to fame on 9 May, when he claimed to hack a look-alike machine similar to EVM (Electronic voting machine) allegedly used by the Election Commission.[5] The AAP used the hacking by Bhardwaj to substantiate its claims of EVM tampering during recent elections. The Election Commission later claimed that it cannot take responsibility for any machine that is not under its own security systems and rejected the hacking attempt by Bhardwaj.
Saurabh Bhardwaj has been appointed Chief Spokesperson for Delhi unit of AAP.[6][7]
On 28 June 2017, Bhardwaj filed a complaint to the Assembly Speaker against Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa for accusing the Delhi Petitions Committee of allegedly blackmailing officials.[8] On 5 October 2024, he and some of his friends were arrested for disorderly behaviour. [9]
Positions held
edit| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 2013 - 2014 | Elected to 5th Delhi Assembly from Greater Kailash
|
| 2015 - 2020 | Elected to 6th Delhi Assembly from Greater Kailash |
| 2020 - Till Date | Elected to 7th Delhi Assembly from Greater Kailash
|
References
edit- ^ "Saurabh Bhardwaj birth date | Who is Saurabh Bhardwaj | Saurabh Bhardwaj Biography".
- ^ "MEMBERS OF THE SIXTH ASSEMBLY". delhiassembly.nic.in. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ ADR. "Saurabh Bharadwaj(AAP):Constituency- GREATER KAILASH(NEW DELHI) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ "Meet Saurabh Bhardwaj, The AAP MLA who 'Proved' EVMs Could be Rigged". News18. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ "EVM tampering: This is how AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed any candidate can be made to win". The Indian Express. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ "Official Spokespersons". Aam Aadmi Party. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ "AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj appointed chief spokesperson of Delhi unit". Hindustan Times. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "AAP lodges complaint with Delhi Assembly speaker against BJP MLA". india.com. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ https://www.aninews.in/news/national/politics/bus-marshals-protest-in-delhi-police-detain-aap-minister-saurabh-bharadwaj20241005185003/