Urging people to join the fight against unemployment and rising costs, Congress on Monday launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds ahead of the general election due in 2024. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who launched the “Donate for Desh” campaign in Delhi, took a veiled dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that when you depend on rich people, you have to follow their policies.
The campaign is being launched as Congress completes 138 years, and party chief Kharge became its first donor, by contributing a sum of Rs 1,38,000 from his salary, in the presence of party leaders and general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh and treasurer Ajay Maken.
“Donate for Desh”
Under the campaign, the payment link on the party’s website prompts donors to make contributions of Rs 138, Rs 1,380 or Rs 13,800. However, the donor can choose to donate a different amount.
“It is a very happy day that our party leaders have prepared an App. I feel this is the first time that the Congress is seeking the help of common people to build the country,” he told reporters after the launch.
As part of the campaign, the party will receive money from small donors, he said, adding, “If you keep working by depending on the rich, then tomorrow we would have to agree to their programmes and policies”.
Kharge said the Congress is already working for the interests of the poor, Scheduled Castes, backwards and they have been helping us in the past too.
“Through ‘Donate for Desh’, we will work to take the country forward by taking help from the general public. Congress always got help from the general public. Mahatma Gandhi also got Independence for the country with the help of the people of the country,” he said.
People will in one or two days voluntarily come forward and donate, he said.
“We will collect donations from common people and join them in this fight. We can assure people that there is only one party which is fighting for the poor,” he said.
Link To Mahatma Gandhi
According to Congress leader KC Venugopal, the crowdfunding initiative was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s historic ‘Tilak Swaraj Fund’, launched in 1920-21.
In a post on X, the Congress said, “Beyond a campaign, it’s a commitment to champion the rights of marginalised communities, bridge disparities, and stand as a formidable opposition against a government favouring the affluent”.
“Join us in the fight against unprecedented unemployment and rising costs. Stand with the Indian National Congress as it strides beyond its 138th year, stronger and more determined than ever. Be a Changemaker, Contribute,” the party said.
(With PTI Inputs)
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