CONGRESS RAIDS THE PIGGY BANK
At the recent Congress plenary in Delhi, party president Rahul Gandhi acknowledged onstage that he needed the old guard, that he would have to be circumspect in bringing in new blood and younger leaders. “He needs the veterans,” an insider smirked, “because he needs the money.”
When Kamal Nath was recently made Madhya Pradesh Congress president instead of Rahul’s favourite Jyotiraditya Scindia, the speculation in party circles was that Nath’s monetary clout, his ability to raise funds, had carried the day. “We are a poor party with rich leaders,” says a Congress general secretary. “Rahul Gandhi needs veterans with deep pockets to
stave off a funding crisis and take on the BJP’s financial might.”
The crisis is so severe that the party’s central unit has been curbing its leaders’ basic expenses, rationing flights, accommodation and allowances. Back in 2015, party treasurer Motilal Vora wrote letters to all 44 Lok Sabha MPs and 65 Rajya Sabha MPs asking them to donate a month’s salary. The party also asked workers to contribute Rs 250 annually to the party. But such measures are a drop in the bucket in the run-up to 2019. The party is now considering crowdsourcing funds online like the Aam Aadmi Party. Understandable for a party founded in 2012, more humbling for one founded in 1885.
In its 2016-17 income tax filings, the BJP declared donations worth Rs 532.3 crore from 1,194 sources and the Congress Rs 41.9 crore from 599 sources. Donations to the BJP increased by 593 per cent from the previous financial year. An analysis of both parties’ finances between 201213 and 2016-17 shows that 89 per cent of their funds are corporate donations. In 2016-17, the BJP received Rs 515.4 crore from the corporates sector, Congress, Rs 36.1 crore.
For the five state elections held in 2017—Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur—the BJP raised Rs 1,214.5 crore, or 92.4 per cent of all the money raised by all seven national parties. While the BJP’s central unit provided 98.3 per cent of the funds, the Congress’s central unit could provide only 36 per cent of the Rs 96.5 crore the party raised to fight these same state elections. Election strategist Prashant Kishor’s team often found itself stuck in hotels during the UP campaign, unable to move on because the party had failed to clear accommodation and transport bills.
The party president, though, remains sanguine. He admitted to india today back in February that the party was in the midst of a financial crisis but that it would not hamper its ability to contest elections: “Did you see what happened in Gujarat? We could not spend a fraction of what the BJP did, but we put up a tough fight.” Can the Congress make up in spirit what it lacks in resources?
THE PARTY IS NOW PLANNING TO CROWDSOURCE FUNDS LIKE THE AAM AADMI PARTY