Cong chief starts donation drive for party candidate

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi kick-started a special public donation drive for a party candidate on Tuesday ahead of the Karnataka elections.

Dubbing it a fight between Congress’s clean versus the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s dirty politics in the southern state, Gandhi sought financial contributions for 33-year-old PhD scholar Dr Yogesh Babu, who is pitted against B Sreeramulu, a close confidant of the tainted Reddy brothers, in an unprecedented move by a Congress chief.

“It’s a clear fight in Karnataka. Clean Politics vs Dirty Politics. Mafia vs People. With the BJP fielding the corrupt Reddy gang, we are trying a novel approach to fund our candidate. Support our candidate by making a contribution,” Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress set a target of raising ₹2.8 million that will be spent for Yogesh Babu’s campaign. Till Tuesday evening, it mopped up ₹0.56 million from 216 supporters. The campaign will run till Thursday.

The rare donation drive comes amid a shrill campaign and the Congress’s charges of corruption against some BJP candidates, including its CM face BS Yeddyurappa. “The drive will also have a political undertone that while the BJP has taken corrupt financial powers under its wings, we want clean money for our campaign,” said a senior leader.

The fundraiser comes close on the heels of Opposition parties’ reservation over the new electoral bonds rolled out by the government. The parties had maintained that it would not help curb the use of black money in politics.