The clash between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and BJP workers seems to have turned into a boon for the former with the AAP’s coffer filling up fast as the party received over `43 lakh online donations since Wednesday. It is the highest after party leader Arvind Kejriwal stepped down as Delhi Chief Minister last month.
The clashes in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat following ‘detention’ of party convener Kejriwal in Gujarat has generated a sympathy wave among the people and over 2,600 people donated online.
The party has been trying to gather more funds and clashes have given the much-needed kick to their donation collection drive ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
A total of 1,544 people donated `24 lakh on Wednesday while 1,080 people donated `19 lakh on Thursday. The amount is the highest after Kejriwal stepped down as Delhi Chief Minister on February 14. The party had collected `29 lakh on the next day.
The party needs about `150-200 crore for the Lok Sabha election, but it has so far collected only `11 crore and to increase the funding, the party is pulling out all stops.
The party launched a new drive ‘Shagun 501’ seeking donation of `501 from people on Wednesday when the Model Code of Conduct came into effect.
“We are trying to reach out to all categories of people for the funds. We have specific drive like ‘Shagun 501’, ‘Special 2014’ and others where people can donate as per their pocket. We are trying to collect as much as donations for the party to contest the Lok Sabha elections,” said a party leader.