New Delhi: Avadh Ojha, or ‘Ojha sir’ as he is more commonly known, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday in the presence of national convener Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Having worked with leading UPSC coaching centres, the educator hailed the work done by AAP in the education sector as the primary reason behind his decision to join the party.
Both Kejriwal and Sisodia, in turn, praised Ojha’s track record.
Ojha, sources in the AAP told ThePrint, is seeking a ticket to contest the upcoming assembly elections from Delhi’s Patparganj seat—won thrice by Sisodia since 2013. Sisodia may contest a different seat since his margin of victory was a mere 3,207 votes in 2020.
अवध ओझा जी आम आदमी पार्टी में क्यों हुए शामिल❓
खुद उन्हीं से सुनिए👇#AvadhOjhaJoinsAAP pic.twitter.com/KvXFC1yn3N
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) December 2, 2024
An AAP functionary said on condition of anonymity that the party is also counting on Ojha, who has a notable social media presence, to play the role of an ‘influencer’ for the party.
Ojha, 40, hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda and spent nearly a decade teaching UPSC aspirants in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, before he switched to the ‘online classes’ model with the launch of a YouTube channel in 2020.
In an interview with The Lallantop, Ojha had admitted that he sought a ticket from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Congress to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, from Allahabad and Amethi respectively.
Over the past few months, Avadh Ojha met Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya a number of times, leading to speculation that he may join the BJP.
Ojha sought a Lok Sabha ticket from Allahabad, Kaiserganj or Rae Bareli and was willing to contest from any seat in UP’s Awadh region since he is from Gonda, said a UP BJP functionary who did not wish to be named. This functionary added that Ojha’s candidature was discussed but the party leadership was not in favour of fielding him.
Denied a ticket by the BJP, Ojha approached the Congress at a time when there was still uncertainty about who the party would field against then Union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi. But the party instead chose Gandhi family loyalist K.L. Sharma—who won the seat.
Ojha, it is learnt, then approached Manish Sisodia who facilitated his entry into the AAP.
Ojha’s YouTube channel has more than nine lakh subscribers.
During one of his online classes, he had praised the chief minister of UP, saying the state needs a tough administrator like Yogi Adityanath. During another class, he praised Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, terming it ‘motivational’. In one video, now widely shared on social media, Ojha had admitted that his attempts to crack the UPSC were unsuccessful.
The educator landed under the limelight in August after flooding in the basement of a UPSC coaching centre in Delhi claimed the lives of three aspirants. At the time, Ojha had sought strict punishment for those responsible for the lapses that led to the flooding.
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