AAP raises Rs 1-cr from the fundraising dinners organised in four cities

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) constant efforts to source large donations to fuel its national campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections may have finally hit the jackpot. Fundraising dinners, the party's latest unconventional gambit at boosting its poll aspirations, has helped AAP clock more than its average daily donations in a matter of few hours.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had organised four such 'dinners for a cause' at Nagpur, Gurgaon, Bangalore and New Delhi in the last two weeks, which helped it raise Rs 1 crore, of which Rs 50 lakh alone came from the Bangalore do. AAP, on a good day, receives an average of Rs 20 lakh in donations.

Although Rs 1 crore might seem insignificant when one compares it with the funds raised by national parties such as the BJP or Congress ahead of elections, but for AAP, a party largely dependent on crowdsourcing for small donations, the sum is pretty sizeable, said AAP leader Pankaj Gupta.

"These (fundraising dinners) have turned out to be the fastest way of sourcing large amounts in a transparent manner," Gupta said. Although fundraising lunches or dinners are not entirely new for the party, according to Gupta, this is the first time it fixed a minimum donation as a prerequisite to attend these events and interact with party leaders.
"At this point, it's a race against time. We need lots of money and we need it quickly to fight the elections. During the Delhi assembly elections, our leaders met prospective donors first and then solicited financial help at the end of the interaction. But with Lok Sabha elections, we have to fix and achieve targets, which is why every participant was expected to donate a pre-decided amount," Gupta added.

At the Bangalore and Nagpur dinners with AAP's tallest leader Kejriwal, the party had asked for a minimum pledge of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 per person, respectively. For the Delhi fundraiser, which was an interaction of city traders with AAP leader Manish Sisodia and some Lok Sabha candidates, each participant was expected to pay Rs 20,000. The Gurgaon fundraiser with AAP idealogue Yogendra Yadav sought a minimum pledge of Rs 5,000 per person.

But there are many who donate more than the minimum amount. The party, for instance, hoped to raise Rs 40 lakh from the 200 participants at the Bangalore dinner, but ended up with Rs 50 lakh.

But AAP still has a long way to go. It has pencilled in an expenditure of around Rs 1 crore per Lok Sabha seat. This means it could target a war chest of at least Rs 100 crore, five times what it had raised for the Delhi assembly elections. It has raised about Rs 15 crore till date.