Vishesh Ravi, 30 | Constituency: Karol Bagh | Total Assets: Rs 372,500

Unlike many others in the Aam Aadmi Party, Vishesh Ravi, who won from the Karol Bagh constituency, had not put a future in politics beyond him. “I wouldn’t say that I felt that I had to get into politics, but I felt that if an opportunity presented itself I would take it,” he says.

Having worked in his father’s NGO — Delhi Vikas Sansthan — for the past eight years, Ravi helped people raise their voice against persecution from officialdom.

“The political system was about money power,” he says. “But having worked with people for almost a decade, I have realised that people want their problems solved and if they feel that a person can work for them honestly and can earn the trust of the people, they will support them.”

The interesting bit about Ravi is that his father, KC Ravi, does have a political past. He had previously fought elections on a BJP ticket and even became a councillor.

“But my father felt that it was better to work outside the political system and focus on making our NGO more effective,” he says. “I didn’t identify with either the Congress or the BJP, I felt that they were too political. But AAP presented an option that fit with my ideas and the work that we did in our NGO, so I agreed to contest.”

When asked what his father thought about him fighting the election and contesting on an AAP ticket, Ravi says, “My father felt that it would be better for people like him to remain outside the political system and work as a pressure group. He felt that groups like Delhi Vikas Sansthan have the ability to keep the political classes in check. He told me that I should fight on an AAP ticket if I wanted, but once other people in our constituency are ready to lead, I should step aside, let them come forward and work as a pressure group from outside the system.”

-  Avalok Langer