Congress party’s ‘Donate for Desh’ crowdfunding campaign is turning out to be a flop show as the party has managed to raise just Rs 11 crores in two weeks. Reports say that the party leadership is unhappy with the meagre collection so far and has instructed the party workers to ramp up efforts to raise more funds.
Reportedly, the top Congress leadership, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, as well as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, told the leaders that raising Rs 11 crore in two weeks was not encouraging and asked them to increase their efforts to raise more funds from party leaders, workers, and the general public.
During the three-hour meeting of general secretaries, in-charges, state unit chiefs, and Congress Legislature Party leaders from all states, the leaders were also asked to focus their full force on around 255 ‘winnable’ seats.
The party expects to release its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections ‘soon and has directed the state units to begin the process. As part of this exercise, the party will also form screening committees in each state this week.
Ajay Maken, AICC treasurer, was reportedly instructed to step up efforts and visit states to boost the campaign and hold meetings with state units in order to drum up more funds for the party.
The party’s leadership is said to have decided to raise funds separately for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which begins on January 14. In December, the party launched the ”Donate for Desh” crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the Lok Sabha elections.
Kharge told the meeting that the gains made by the Bharat Jodo Yatra should be solidified further by renaming the second yatra from Manipur to Mumbai the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
On January 2nd, Congress leader Ajay Maken took to X to inform about collecting Rs 10 crore in the online ‘Donate for Desh’ campaign. The Congress leader, however, is boasting the meagre amount as if a whopping Rs 20 or 50 crore has been raised by the party.
“New Year, New Milestones – We just crossed Rs 10 crores in 2 Weeks. As 2024 unfolds, we at the Indian National Congress (@INCIndia) are thrilled to share two significant achievements: Celebrating 138 Years of Service: Our journey in serving our great nation has now spanned 138 remarkable years. Phenomenal Success in Online Donations: Our online donation campaign marks the culmination of 2nd week with a groundbreaking milestone. We’ve raised a whopping ₹100 Million (Rs 10 crore)! A Heartfelt Thank You: To the lakhs of supporters who have joined us in this journey – your generosity is overwhelming. With 2,48,929 (2.49 lakhs) valid transaction requests in just two weeks, your support is the backbone of this success,” Maken posted.
🌟 New Year, New Milestones – We just crossed Rs 10 crores in 2 Weeks🌟
— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) January 2, 2024
As 2024 unfolds, we at the Indian National Congress (@INCIndia) are thrilled to share two significant achievements:
1️⃣ Celebrating 138 Years of Service: Our journey in serving our great nation has now…
Notably, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, on 18th December, had launched the campaign from New Delhi where he donated Rs 1.38 lakh. On 28th December 2023, the party marked its 138th anniversary. In alignment with that, it had issued an appeal to its supporters to contribute in multiples of ₹138, while urging its district and state-level workers to donate ₹1380.
Earlier, it was reported the party had collected Rs 5.35 crores a week after the campaign was kicked off by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Such a miniscule amount collected by the grand old party so far reflects the nation’s mood. The paltry collections show that the party has failed to connect with the people and gain their support.
Another interesting reason for the failure of the party’s IT cell in locking top-level domains (TLDs) for its donation campaign! The Congress party overlooked a crucial detail in the digital age. They failed to secure the online presence of the campaign! The Congress Party forgot to register the top-level domains (TLDs) for its campaign! Consequently, donatefordesh.com and donatefordesh.org now redirect users to the support page of OpIndia and the donate page of BJP respectively.
