He was among close confidants of Arvind Kejriwal when the group was part of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement. Against Hazare's wishes, the group floated a political outfit named
Aam Adami Party. The party did well in Delhi Vidhan Sabha polls in 2013 and formed government with outside support by Congress. But soon Kejriwal resigned. The party lost all 7 seats to BJP in Delhi in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Ashutosh contested the
2014 Lok Sabha elections from
Chandni Chowk against
Kapil Sibal of
Congress and
Harsh Vardhan of the
BJP. He garnered more votes than Kapil Sibal of the Congress, but lost out to Dr Harsh Vardhan of the BJP. Aam Admi Party swept to power winning 67 out of 70 seats for Delhi Vidhan Sabha in February 2015. But several top leaders did not contest the polls themselves and concentrated on strategy.
Yogendra Yadav,
Prashant Bhushan, Ashutosh,
Atishi Marlena were among the main leaders who did not contest the elections. ==Books==