Rahul Gandhi fanboy turned TMC member Saket Gokhale has again come under scrutiny for alleged misappropriation of funds that he collects through donations. Poet and writer Hussain Haidry raised the issue yesterday, demanding accountability from the activist politician on the utilisation of funds collected through fundraising campaigns.
Saket Gokhale has been collecting funds through online fundraising campaigns for several years now, and have collected lakhs of Rupees. But despite several donors and social media users demanding the details of the utilisation of the funds, he has been refusing to provide the same. When he was working as a Congress supporter, several Congress members and supporters had demanded accountability from him, but he had refused to provide.
It is alleged that all Saket Gokhale does is file online petitions for free, and does not follow up with his petitions in courts. Therefore, he does not spend any money on his ‘activism’, and all the money donated to him by Congress workers and supporters go towards his personal expense.
Therefore, Hussain Haidry has demanded that Saket Gokhale give the details of how he spent the money he raised through fundraising campaigns. He said that hundreds and thousands of people, especially Muslims, have donated to Gokhale in the last 2-3 years in small amounts, but no stupendous work has been done by him.
He said that Saket Gokhale never replies if one asks for CA audited receipt and payment accounts till date, and status of work done till date in terms of FIR, PIL, RTI, Complaints filed with cost per case.
If I am "targeting" you and these are "misapprehensions," why don't you publicly prove me wrong:
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) December 31, 2021
1. FIR with strictest sections on behalf of TMC (since you claimed "outside of Twitter actions")
2. Audited Receipt & Payment A/C from cashbook and bank statement
3. Status of work https://t.co/O1D7DMYqVZ
Hussain further noted that when people demand transparency from Saket Gokhale, he often responds with “You did not donate to me” or “Take your money back”, adding that such kind of behaviour should have been worrying much earlier.
He noted that thousands of Twitter users helped Saket grow his career with donations and materials to file complaints, and they have the right to ask for accountability. “Thousands have donated to Saket Gokhale, and have directly helped him being in a political position. He is flaunting it now, and using it to claim fake grandstanding and speak down to voices asking questions. This is a red flag that must not be ignored,” Haidry added.
Hussain also questioned the ‘audacity’ of Saket Gokhale to ask for accountability from PM Modi when he has not submitted a single statement of money or work status for lacs collected from people.
He had also questioned Saket Gokhale for filing a complaint against Dharma Sansad hate speeches in Varanasi on his personal letter, instead of using TMC letterhead.
Sir ji, please file a complaint on the TMC letterhead the next time if you want to publicly claim that TMC filed a complaint.
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) December 27, 2021
Even I can file a police complaint like this on my own letterhead and write my job designation in the end.
"Outside of Twitter world" it seems 🙄 https://t.co/uZtfG4KSQv pic.twitter.com/cXlgt3FhTr
Saket Gokhale responded to Hussain Haidry’s demands saying that he is being targeted only because he filed a complaint in his personal letterhead, and alleged that people keep raising the ‘same old thing’ of the accountability over donations. To this, Haidry responded that the use of personal letterhead means that it is not an official complaint by TMC like Gokhale was claiming, but it is a personal complaint. He also added that people asking accountability of Rs. 22 lakh (+more) is not an “old thing that comes up every time”. “How dare you take money from people and talk down to them now?!” he asked.
Saket,
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) December 31, 2021
The letterhead and stamp of TMC means that it is an OFFICIAL COMPLAINT by party. Your letterhead is not
People asking for accountability of Rs. 22 lacs (+more) is not an "old thing that comes up every time"
How dare you take money from people and talk down to them now?! https://t.co/O1D7DMYqVZ
Hussain Haidry received widespread support on Twitter demanding answers from Saket Gokhale. One user pointed that after people started demanding accountability from Saket Gokhale, he moved from a fundraising platform to a direct payment platform, which is even less transparent.
lmao what kind of fundraising website "doesn't have the option of showing the total" for just this guy's fundraiser. Was not shocked when he moved to a direct payment platform which was even less transparent
— Internal Dark Matter (@Just_Screams) December 30, 2021
Some Twitter uses also demanded that TMC should come forward and comment on the donations received by Saket Gokhale. Some even demanded that he should be fired from the party.
It is interesting to note that Saket Gokhale himself had said that he is a full-time activist, and therefore the amount collected helps pay his expenses. He had also claimed that he ropes in more people, and their expenses are also paid from the donation money.
I'll speak to the website & find if there's a way they can show the total.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) February 2, 2020
As far as transparency goes, the link is open for scrutiny. The amount raised helps pay my expenses for the work I do full-time. Plus as I rope in more ppl, their expenses will be covered thru this. (2/2)
In February 2020 itself, social media users had calculated that Saket Gokhale had collected ₹22.8 lakh s through his OurDemocracy fundraiser, and he had agreed with the amount. The amount must have gone considerably in the last two years, but there is not much detail of the utilisation of the raised money.
