Popular UPSC teacher from Uttar Pradesh's Gonda Awadh Ojha, also known popularly as Ojha Sir, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday. Ojha reached the AAP party office in Delhi along with party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and senior leader Manish Sisodia.
Upon his joining, he thanked the AAP leadership including Kejriwal and Sisodia for giving him the opportunity to work in the field of education by entering politics. He said that development of educational infrastructure is his topmost priority after entering politics.
Kejriwal said: "Awadh Ojha ji has made lakhs of youth capable of employment and living a good life by giving them good education." He added that Awadh Ojha's entry into politics will benefit the education of the country, helping with the country's development at large.
Manish Sisodia said in a post on X (formerly Twitter): "Awadh Ojha ji joining the Aam Aadmi Party will give our education mission more speed, strength and depth. Till now, Aam Aadmi Party has done historic work in the field of education under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal ji. I am confident that after Ojha ji becomes a part of the party, this work will gain even more speed and depth."
The development comes ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Delhi in February 2025. Awadh Ojha is known for his videos for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams coaching. His videos became popular due to his unique teaching method of combining historical events, geopolitical trends, and current affairs.
Born in Gonda, Awadh Ojha's mother was a lawyer and father was a government postmaster. He got his early education from the Fatima School in Gonda. Ojha's parents wanted him to become a doctor but his dream was to clear the UPSC exam.
He, however, could not clear the UPSC exam in his first attempt much to his parents' chagrin. After failing to crack UPSC, Ojha decided to not take up a job. Instead, he got a chance to teach history at a coaching institute after being thrown out of the house.
In an interview, Ojha claimed: "After being thrown out of the house, I got a chance to teach history in a coaching. But I did not know how to teach. However, I gave coaching here and thus began teaching."
In 2005, Ojha came to Delhi and opened a UPSC coaching institute in the Mukherjee Nagar area of the national capital. He has taught at many famous IAS coaching institutes in New Delhi. In 2019, he founded the IQRA IAS Academy in Pune.