The Aam Aadmi Party (; ) is a political party in India founded by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-allies on 26 November 2012. The AAP is currently the governing party in the Indian state of Punjab, has representation in both houses of the Parliament of India, and forms the official opposition in Delhi. On 10 April 2023, the AAP was officially granted national party status by the Election Commission of India. Its election symbol is a broom.
The party came into existence following a difference of opinion between Kejriwal and activist Anna Hazare regarding the incorporation of electoral politics into the popular 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, which had been demanding a Jan Lokpal Bill since 2011. Hazare preferred the movement should remain politically unaligned, whereas Kejriwal felt the failure of the agitation route necessitated changes in the government's representation itself.
Making its electoral debut in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, the AAP emerged as the second-largest party. It formed the government with support from members of the Indian National Congress (INC) in the assembly; the AAP had previously opposed Manmohan Singh's INC government during the protests. Kejriwal became the Chief Minister of Delhi, but his government resigned 49 days after he could not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the assembly, because of the lack of support from the INC. After the President's rule in Delhi, in the following 2015 elections, the AAP won 67 of the 70 seats in the assembly and Kejriwal was again sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi On 3 December 2015, the Jan Lokpal Bill was passed by the AAP government with a majority in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. In the subsequent 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, AAP was re-elected as the governing party after winning 62 seats out of 70. The party suffered a sharp decline in the 2025 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, winning only 22 seats. It ultimately lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which obtained an absolute majority; Kejriwal and several other notable leaders lost their seats.
Outside Delhi, the AAP cemented its popularity when it emerged as the principal opposition party in the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election after securing 20 seats. In the subsequent 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, AAP was elected as the main governing party after winning 92 seats. Following this, Bhagwant Mann was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab. The party currently also has representation in Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, and Gujarat. The APP was formerly a member of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance until its withdrawal in 2025.
History
Formation In the years immediately preceding the 2011 anti-corruption protests under the erstwhile Second Manmohan Singh ministry led by UPA , there were examples of alleged corruption in the country; these included the Adarsh Housing Society Scam, the 2010 housing loan scam, the Radia tapes controversy, and the 2G spectrum case. Massive anti-corruption protests and strikes were initiated by Anna Hazare in 2011 as a response to exposure of these financial scams and corruption. The aim was to press the government to enact a strong and effective Lokpal (Federal Ombudsman) through a Jan Lokpal Bill. Hazare was supported by a clutch of activists and professionals which became popularly known as Team Anna. Team Anna also included a civil-servant turned activist Arvind Kejriwal. Hazare had wanted to keep the movement politically neutral but Kejriwal considered that direct involvement in politics was necessary because attempts to obtain progress regarding the Jan Lokpal Bill through talks with existing political parties had, in his opinion, achieved nothing. A survey conducted on a Facebook page that purported to be operated by India Against Corruption and other social networking services had indicated that there was wide support for politicisation. Hazare rejected the poll, saying "elections require huge funds, which will be tough for activists to organise without compromising on their values". He also said it would be difficult to ensure that candidates are not corrupted once elected. Hazare and Kejriwal agreed on 19 September 2012 that their differences regarding a role in politics were irreconcilable. Kejriwal had support from some anti-corruption movement activists, such as Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan, but was opposed by others such as Kiran Bedi and Santosh Hegde. On 2 October, Kejriwal announced that he was forming a political party and that he intended the formal launch to be on 26 November, coinciding with the anniversary of India's adoption of its Constitution in 1949.
The party's name reflects the phrase Aam Aadmi (), whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent. A party constitution was adopted on 24 November 2012, when a National Council comprising 320 people and a National Executive of 23 were also formed. Both the Council and the Executive were expected to have more members in due course, with the intention being that all districts and all classes of people would have a voice. Various committees were proposed to be formed to draft proposals for adoption by the party in a process that was expected to take several months. Although one aim was to limit nepotism, there were complaints at this initial meeting that the selection of people invited to attend was itself an example of such practices. The party was formally launched in Delhi on 26 November and in March 2013, it was registered as a political party by the Election Commission of India.
On 26 November 2012, the formal launch day of the AAP, former law minister Shanti Bhushan donated to the party. Prashant Bhushan, his son, was a member of the party's National Executive Committee. The party raised by November 2013 and received in 2015 assembly polls.
On 18 May 2013, a group of Indian Americans from 20 different cities in the US held a convention in Chicago and extended support to the AAP. The convention was attended by two AAP leaders, Kumar Vishwas and Yogendra Yadav, and Kejriwal addressed it via video conferencing. Aruna Roy and Medha Patkar, who had differences with Kejriwal on certain issues, supported him after his 15-day fast against inflated electricity bills. On 22 March 2014, the Janata Dal (Secular) party of Delhi announced it would merge with the Aam Aadmi Party, citing Kejriwal's tenure as Chief Minister of Delhi. Later two of the founders of the party, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, left the Aam Aadmi Party in 2017 and formed Swaraj Abhiyan.
On 23 March 2013, Kejriwal began an indefinite fast in an attempt to mobilise people against inflated power and electricity bills at a house in Sundar Nagri, a low-income group resettlement colony in North-East Delhi. During the protest, he urged Delhi citizens not to pay "inflated" water and electricity bills. The AAP also demanded an audit of power and electricity supply in Delhi by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, something that was also supported by civil society groups like the National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM). The AAP claimed that the protest gathered support from people in Delhi on a single day and more than people up to 28 March 2013. Anna Hazare urged Kejriwal to end the fast on 29 March and he did so on 6 April.
On 10 June 2013, Kejriwal supported agitation by Delhi auto rickshaw drivers, who were protesting the Delhi government's ban on advertisements on auto rickshaws. Kejriwal claimed the government's ban was because the drivers supported his party and carried AAP's advertisements on their vehicles. He said that the AAP would put 10,000 advertisements on auto rickshaws as a protest. In retrospect, after Kejriwal had been elected and then resigned his position, a union representing the drivers expressed dissatisfaction, saying: "Arvind Kejriwal, who had won the elections because of the support of the auto drivers, has betrayed them by not fulfilling any of the promises made before the elections". On 22 April 2015, the AAP organised a rally in Delhi against a land acquisition bill.
In Delhi 2013 The 2013 Delhi state assembly elections were the party's first electoral contest. The Election Commission approved the symbol of a broom for use by the AAP in that campaign. The party said that its candidates were honest and had been screened for potential criminal backgrounds. It published its central manifesto on 20 November 2013, promising to implement the Jan Lokpal Bill within 15 days of coming to power.
In November 2013, a sting operation conducted by Media Sarkar alleged that several leaders of the AAP, including Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi, had agreed to extend their support to some people seeking assistance with land deals and other financial arrangements in return for donations in cash to the AAP. Ilmi offered to withdraw her candidature as a result, but the party refused to accept her offer, describing the footage as fabricated and a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The Election Commission ordered an inquiry regarding the legitimacy of the video where the political leaders have raised funding through "illegal" means. However immediately after the general elections, Shazia Ilmi (PAC member) resigned from the party.
The AAP emerged as the second-largest party in Delhi, winning 28 of the 70 Assembly seats; the Bharatiya Janata Party, as the largest party, won 31, while its ally Shiromani Akali Dal, won 1; Indian National Congress won 8, and two were won by others. On 28 December 2013, the AAP formed a minority government in the hung Assembly, with what Sheila Dikshit describes as "not unconditional" support from Indian National Congress. Kejriwal became the second-youngest Chief Minister of Delhi. As a result of the Delhi elections, the AAP became a recognised state party in Delhi.
2015 The Delhi state assembly elections for the Sixth Legislative Assembly of Delhi were held on 7 February 2015, as declared by the Election Commission of India. The Aam Aadmi Party scored a landslide victory by winning a majority of 67 of the 70 seats. The BJP was able to win 3 seats and the Congress party saw all its candidates lose. Kejriwal became the Chief Minister for the second time.(). The AAP had started campaigning in Delhi in November 2014 and declared candidates for all 70 seats.
During the campaign, Kejriwal claimed that the BJP had been trying to bribe AAP volunteers. He asked Delhi voters to not deny the bribes offered to them. He suggested that voters should accept the bribe from others and yet vote for AAP through the secret ballot in the election. The situation caused the Election Commission of India to instruct Kejriwal to desist from breaking laws governing the model code of conduct for elections in India, but the Delhi court then allowed Kejriwal to challenge this.
The President's Rule was subsequently rescinded and Kejriwal became the Chief Minister of Delhi with six cabinet ministers (Manish Sisodia, Asim Ahmed Khan, Sandeep Kumar, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, and Jitender Singh Tomar).