Within a day of his emotional appeal for funds, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has received donations of over Rs 20 lakh from across the world and India.
According to figures released by the AAP website, the party received a total of Rs 13, 05, 737 on July 14, when Kejriwal appealed to people in the morning asking them to donate since the party had run out of funds. Thereafter, today the party has already received Rs 9, 94, 304 from 750 contributors as we speak.
Interestingly, on Saturday July 11, AAP had received only Rs 709 whereas the best day in this month for the party came on July 1, when it received Rs 28, 702 in donations. Following Kejriwal’s appeal, people have funded from as far as US, UAE, UK and Canada.
“The public funded us, we never took any money under the table. We gave a record of every rupee we got. After we came to power, our funds exhausted. Now we want funds to run our party and we want it from the public,” Kejriwal had told a news agency yesterday.
Kejriwal, who’s also the party’s convener, recently faced scathing attack from his opposition for his government’s decision to allocate Rs 520 crore budget for self-publicity.
He said that his party has always believed in following lawful means to seek funds.
“We are indebted to the people for their help. But now we need funds for day to day expenses. You would say I’m a bizarre CM, asking for funds like this. We can get money the wrong way, but that is not who we are.”
AAP, since its inception a couple of years ago, has largely depended on public fund-raising and donations for running the party and contesting elections. The party was reported to have collected close to Rs 30 crore during the Delhi assembly elections earlier this year.