Cong ‘sahyogis’ to launch mass fund-collection drive
NEW DELHI: Concerned over its depleting financial resources, the Congress will soon form groups of “sahyogis” or party workers to launch a massive drive to collect funds, party leaders familiar with the matter said.
These workers will seek funds directly from people in every booth in the country, according to an internal note prepared after a meeting between Congress general secretaries and in-charges of states on September 30. The drive will start once the ongoing membership enrolment drive is over, the document states.
“We will be felicitating the best performer sahyogi who not only enrolls a large number of members but also helps significantly in fund raising,” said a Congress functionary familiar with the development.
The party has been facing a funds crunch since its defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, in which it managed to win just 44 seats.
This was followed by a series of electoral setbacks in states till December 2018 when the Congress regained power in three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Ahead of this year’s Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had launched a 40-day nationwide mass contact campaign to seek donations from the people to fill its kitty. However, after facing another humiliating defeat — the grand old party won 52 seats, just 8 more than its 2014 tally — its coffers further dried up.
Congress leaders have blamed the severe resource crunch on corporate houses moving away from it. The fund flow also got curtailed due to the party’s loss in big donor states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana.
In January this year, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental organisation that works for electoral reforms, released a report on donations above ~20,000 received by national parties for 2017-18 based on income declared by them with the EC. The BJP declared having received ~437 crore in donations as compared to ~27 crore by the Congress.