BENGALURU: At least 200 people in the city are looking forward to having lunch with Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal this Sunday having paid Rs 20,000 to book their seats. The party has raised about Rs 40 lakh from the paid lunch event.
As part of their fund-raising programme, AAP has organised lunch with Kejriwal on Sunday at Hotel Woodlands. The party printed 200 tickets, each costing Rs 20,000.
Among Kejriwal’s admirers is Rajashekar, a techie based in Austin, Texas, USA. Rajashekar is on vacation in Bengaluru. “I am impressed with the ideas of the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal. I wanted to meet him and booked online for a lunch with Kejriwal,” he said.
Rajashekar, who works as a senior developer with a software company, said soon after he registered and transferred the money, he received an SMS. Later, a party member called him over the phone to thank him.
Rajashekar added, “I am impressed with AAP as they are transparent in terms of money. I am excited to meet Kejriwal.”
Vikas Shukla, an AAP coordinator for the lunch event, said though 200 people are participating, the seating capacity of the hall is only 150.
“We have requested the hotel management to make arrangements for the additional number of people. Of the 200 people, around 30 are from outside Bengaluru,” Shukla said.
Commenting on the menu, Shukla said that since it is a fund-raising event, there have been no elaborate preparations. “There will be both South and North Indian food,” he added.
AAP-Karnataka spokesperson Mahantesh Arali said when they had organised a lunch with Kejriwal in March 2014, they had printed 200 tickets and all of them were sold. AAP had collected Rs 50 lakh from the event.
Caller Campaign
Shukla said the party has also initiated a caller campaign where registered people from Karnataka will be given the contact numbers of voters in New Delhi. Those registered have to use their personal phone to call and convince the Delhiites to vote for AAP.
“The top 25 callers will get a chance to meet Kejriwal on Saturday and get an autographed copy of ‘Swaraj’ penned by Kejriwal,” he said.
In the past 10 days, the top 10 callers made at least 3,000 calls to voters in Delhi. “Of the top 25 callers, five are from Kalaburagi. They are also among the top callers at the national level,” Shukla added.
Selfie with Mufflerman
Interestingly, lunch is not the only fund-raiser for the party. About 1,000 people had registered to take a selfie with Kejriwal at a cost of Rs 500 each. However, only 25 people will get the chance to take a ‘Selfie with Mufflerman’. Mahantesh said, “On Sunday, 25 of them will be chosen through lottery for a chance to click a selfie with Kejriwal.”