Newsmaker | AAP backroom operator, top Delhi minister: Who is Kailash Gahlot, the latest party leader under ED scanner

Delhi Home and Transport minister Kailash Gahlot has the reputation of being a mild-mannered politician — he rarely makes an appearance at press conferences — who plays a behind-the-scenes role within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) circles.

The spotlight was on him on Saturday, as he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning.

Gahlot’s name found mention in the investigating agency’s remand application of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, submitted in court last week, which said that the party’s communications in-charge Vijay Nair, whom the ED accuses of playing a key role in orchestrating the deals as part of the Delhi excise policy case, was living in Gahlot’s government bungalow in Delhi’s Civil Lines.

Gahlot, 50, is a Jat leader who is from the Mitraon village in Delhi. He is one of the rare AAP politicians who was born and brought up in Delhi.

He went on to study Political Science at the Sri Venkateswara College and, later Law, both at the University of Delhi. He then practised as an advocate in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court for 16 years. It was during this time that he came into contact with AAP leaders and decided to contest elections.

He joined the AAP before the 2015 Assembly elections and won the Najafgarh seat by a thin margin of 1,550 votes. He would go on to win the seat again in 2020 by over 6,000 votes.

He was appointed minister of Transport, Law, Information Technology and Administrative Reforms in 2015, and has held on to the Transport and Information Technology departments. After the arrest of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last year, also in the excise policy case, he was appointed Delhi Home Minister.

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