Avadh Ojha, a civil services coaching teacher and motivational speaker, joined the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday, months ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.

Ojha has taught Union Public Service Commission aspirants for nearly a decade in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, a hub of coaching institutes.

He joined the party in the presence of its national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

“Avadh Ojha ji will make an invaluable contribution to taking forward Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘politics of work’ and ‘education revolution’,” the Aam Aadmi Party said in a social media post.

Ojha, who has over nine lakh followers on YouTube, had sought tickets from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, reported The Print.

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While he was willing to contest from any region in Uttar Pradesh’s Awadh region, he had sought a ticket from Allahabad, Kaiserganj or Rae Bareli from the BJP, the website quoted an unidentified party functionary as saying.

When he was denied ticket, he had approached the Congress, according to The Print.

During the ceremony to induct Ojha on Monday, Kejriwal said the educator “is a well-known name…who has inspired millions”, reported The Indian Express.

“With his joining, the party will grow stronger, and the education sector will benefit immensely,” said Kejriwal. “Our effort has always been to bring individuals excelling in areas like education and health into politics to maximise their impact.”

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Ojha thanked Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party for giving him the “opportunity to work on education through politics”.

“Education is the soul of the family, society, and nation,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “Today, as I step into politics, I want to emphasise that if given a choice between politics and education, I would choose education.”

My aim is to leverage my role to spread education more widely, said Ojha.