#iBribedKejriwal campaign leads to 150% spike in donations to AAP

Aam Aadmi Party has claimed that the donations for the party have increased by 150% after it began an intense social media campaign following graft allegations by former Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra.

Mishra alleged on Sunday that he had seen health minister Satyendar Jain allegedly handing ₹2 crore to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last week. The AAP refuted the allegations and said that Mishra was acting at the behest of the BJP.

AAP’s social media team has used the opportunity to glorify Kejriwal and is listing out the achievements of the AAP government.

The campaign, being run as #iBribedKejriwal, both on Twitter and Facebook, was one of the top trends on the microblogging site on Monday. “An aspect of the campaign is to send across the message of transparency within the party. We have asked supporters to post pictures of their donation certificates generated from the party’s website if anyone contributes,” said Ankit Lal, the party’s social media head.

The party claimed that since Sunday, the donations have increased by 150% as compared to other months.

“If we compare Sunday’s donations with that received between May 1 and May 6, then it is a huge increase. For example, from May 4 to May 6 we got ₹10,739. On May 7 (Sunday) we started from ₹87,975 and by 8 pm on Monday the donations touched ₹ 2,81,104,” Lal told HT. The party received a total of 325 donations in 20 hours, he added.

The campaign is not only aimed at quashing the claims of Mishra, but has been devised also as a response to a recent notice sent by the ministry of home affairs, which asked the party to divulge information about its overseas funding.

“So far, the campaign is doing well. Our donations have increased by 150%,” a party member said.