Eye on LS polls, AAP to launch donation drive

THE NATIONWIDE DONATION CAMPAIGN WILL START FROM OCTOBER 14, SAID ARVIND KEJRIWAL

NEWDELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party will launch a full-throttle campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls next month onwards, before the model code of conduct comes into force around March.

The party on Saturday said it has decided to launch a mega door-to-door campaign seeking donations across the country, with special focus on Delhi.

In a meeting chaired by AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday afternoon, the party planned to launch the nationwide donation campaign from October 14 onwards starting from Delhi. Kejriwal would lead the poll campaign. The AAP supremo which will be the party’s first massive outreach programme in the run-up to the general elections. Kejriwal has asked every party leader to actively participate in the campaign and promote Delhi government’s achievements while asking for donations to fight the elections.

The AAP has already announced its in-charges in five of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi. The party recently announced it would contest elections in other states too, which i n total would account for about 100 Lok Sabha seats. The AAP is likely to contest Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Gopal Rai, the Delhi convener of AAP, said the aim of the drive was to convince people that the aim of the party was honest politics. “Our aim is to spread honest politics to all parts of the country. Ours is a party, which runs on the money of the aam aadmi. That is why we don’t work under the influence of anyone. Through this cam- paign, we will once again be knocking on the doors of the people for donation,” he said.

Party functionaries said the campaign will be launched with a massive volunteer meet that will be organised in Delhi on October 14. “It will be attended by thousands of party workers from across the nation. AAP will also ask its volunteers to donate for the party. During the October 14 meeting, the party leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, will deliberate on people’s funding for clean politics in the country,” said a senior party leader.

When campaigning in other states, party leaders and volunteers will be told to pitch the “Delhi model of politics” to people. “They would be given examples of works in the field of education, free healthcare for all in Delhi, free water, cheapest electricity and so on. They would also be told that if they support the party in their state, then they would also replicate the Delhi model in their states also,” another party leader.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said a number of models of “small ticket” crowd-funding were discussed at a meeting. “After election, we were dependent on big ticket fundings. Now, we are looking for small ticket crowd-funding by the people. Among different funding models discussed in the party meeting, one was to collect ₹100 per individual per month. We have to convince people that the AAP government was dedicated to work for them,” he said.