NEW DELHI: Despite the December chill, the political temperatures in the capital continue to rise. The two main rivals in the coming assembly polls are again trading charges against each other. This time it’s over AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal running a similar campaign like Narendra Modi.
Kejriwal hosted a donation drive with around more than 100 people attending ‘Coffee with Kejriwal’ after paying `20,000 each at Safdarjang Club in South Delhi on Saturday. Short on funds, AAP’s idea sounded similar to Modi’s Chai Pe Charcha campaign during the last Lok Sabha polls.
As AAP’s political campaign picks up, the BJP hits out at them. “This kind of politics is unheard of, that your supporter gives you money to eat and have coffee with you, for taking a picture of you with their own phone,” said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Kapoor.
After ‘Selfie with Mufflerman’, the party has come up with this new way to collect funds for the Assembly polls. The registration will be open till January 7, and the party will randomly pick 25 of those registered to allow them to take a selfie with the former Delhi chief minister. This project is run by party’s Bangalore unit.
The party’s fund-raising has been creating a lot of controversies from `20,000-a-plate dinner to flying in business class to Dubai and later to USA to generate funds. The BJP accused the AAP of getting foreign funding to run their campaign. But AAP is not taking the criticism from their main rivals lightly.
Former education minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said, “We take funds transparently. Charging for each plate, unlike others who may be taking in a suitcase. We take funds as a donation but they take it in the form of black money and bribery. The country run by the funds collected in discreet ways is dangerous not by `5,000, or `20,000 charged for each plate, with everyone to see.”
Another AAP leader said, “The BJP does not understand what is foreign funding, it is not allowed in India but anyone who has Indian passport can donate to the party which they have been doing. The Delhi HC has said there is no foreign funding in our case, and the report of the Centre also suggests the same. The BJP is only trying to deflect the issue of their 80 per cent of black money funding.”
Apart from Kejriwal, Sisodia too is going on fund-raising spree. He will go to Lucknow soon on similar drive where people will pay for having dinner with him. “We are not focusing only on metros, but small cities are also very important to us,” he said.
Apart from the verbal duels between the BJP and AAP leaders, they are hitting out at each other by serving legal notices. The AAP sent a legal notice to the Delhi BJP on December 13, in regard to “false” allegation levelled against the party. This was in response to BJP MP and party general secretary Ramesh Bidhuri who alleged that the NGO named Kabir run by Sisodia is receiving foreign funding.
Bidhuri had alleged, “Due to lack of transparency common man is wondering whether donation is being received at the rate of `20,000 per plate or the NGO funds are being diverted.”
After AAP’s notice, BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi on Friday served a notice on AAP for misusing his picture, which portrayed him as BJP’s CM candidate in comparison to AAP’s candidate Kejriwal.
Last time the party had a target of `20 crore as donations, but this time it has changed to ` 30 crore as the Election Commission has changed the rules for the expenditure on each candidate, say sources. The AAP is trying desperately to generate funds as polls are likely to be held in February.