With eye on Delhi polls, AAP steps up fund-raising drive

New Delhi, Nov 25: As it gears up for elections in Delhi, AAP has seen a surge in donations received by it with contributions pouring in from far and wide as part of a fund- raising drive which the party has started.

The party today received more than Rs 12.5 lakh in donation which, AAP sources said, marks a multi-fold increase over the contributions coming in recent days.

"Earlier, we would get donations of Rs 2-3 lakh every day. But, today, the figure has surged to Rs 12.5 lakh. As the election fever increases, the size of the donations received daily will go up. "Major donations came from Maharashtra (around 80 per cent), followed by Delhi, Karnataka, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

"Internationally, donations are pouring in from the US, UAE, UK and Singapore," said an AAP leader.

The party hopes to gather Rs 30 crore ahead of the polls in Delhi. From November 1 till date, it has collected Rs 59 lakh, according to data on the AAP website.

To boost its war chest for the upcoming elections, the party will hold a fund-raising dinner featuring AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal in Mumbai on Thursday, where each invite costs Rs 20,000. It had adopted a similar strategy before Lok Sabha elections, when Kejriwal had taken part in such programmes across the country.

"We will likely hold similar programmes in Bangalore and Delhi and, perhaps, in Kolkata," said AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena. The party has also launched a mobile application 'Aap Ka Dan' for its volunteers with a view to bringing in more transparency during fund collection.

"Our volunteers will collect cash and cheques from donors and update it on the application so that fund collection may be monitored on a real-time basis," the AAP leader added. The application has been currently launched in Delhi and Karnataka and may be next unveiled in Maharashtra. "We have plans of launching it for AAP volunteers across the country," the leader added.

PTI