The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) coffers are filling up fast with very un-Aam Aadmi goodies. For AAP, every day is Christmas, with Santa Clauses in the form of generous supporters of all class and creed, Indian and NRI, reaching bearing gifts at the party’s 41 Hanuman Road headquarters — a Lutyens style bungalow in the capital’s Ground Zero. The party is making a daring pitch for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The booty is eye-popping: cars, laptops, mobiles, handycams make up the hardware. Furniture and stationery is for easy comfort. AAP has also been gifted prime real estate. Add to these, cash, oodles of dosh and the uncommon picture is complete.
With transparency as its USP, AAP is seeking cash and kind to help promote its cause and campaign. On January 1, the party launched the ‘Special 2014’ drive to collect donations for the Lok Sabha elections and in just two short months, 3,747 people have pitched in with `77.46 lakh. Some, including NRI Rabinder Sirohi, who has a taste for whimsical numerology, are donating `2,014 daily in the poll year.
Its never been a dull day for AAP ever since Arvind Kejriwal stepped down as Delhi CM after a 49-day stint. The party has been busy building up its assets in unconventional ways.
Till last count, it had been “gifted” 85 realty space as office premises to run operations in Delhi. It also collected `10.81 crore in cash. The faithful have been queuing up at the party office where a file is maintained to keep track of the tokens of appreciation. Business for shopping sites like Flipkart has gone up, with generous AAP fans logging in to buy and send presents.