Ajit Jogi to Host Dinners to Raise Funds for his Party

Raipur: Busy stamping its authority as the third front in the bipolar political scenario of Chhattisgarh, the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) has decided to emulate Aam Aadmi Party’s formula of fundraising –by holding paid dinners.

The breakaway faction of the Congress party in Chhattisgarh, the JCC has decided to hold dinners where guests are invited to dine with party president Ajit Jogi by paying Rs 11,000 each.

These events would be organised once or twice a week and the first one in the series –An Evening with Jogi- would be hosted at Courtyard Marriot hotel at Raipur on Tuesday, party spokesperson Nitin Bhansali told News18.

"JCC will organise these events for next six months," he said, adding fundraising is not the sole motive behind these feasts.

“We are fighting a party in power for 14 years, so need funds,” he said.

These dinners would be a platform for interacting with the people from different strata, Bhansali said claiming that the party head Ajit Jogi would be sharing his ‘Mann ki Baat’ with the guests and the guests, in turn, could brief him about their problems and unresolved issues.

Talking to News18, Dr Vikram Bhansali, one of the organisers of the event and Director Communications, JCC said that over 2400 persons have already enquired about registrations.

We have capped the number of guests at 100 as personal interaction won’t be possible once the number exceeds this limit, he said.

Dr Singhal too claimed that besides fundraising, we also want different sections and people to communicate with the party president so that misconceptions or doubts, if any, could be resolved. Another idea behind these events is to follow the conception that the party which uses businessmen’s money to fight election works for only businessmen after winning elections thus we want to fight elections on public money, he said.

Asked about prominent faces to be part of the inaugural dinner, the JCC leader claimed that they have deliberately kept away big names, even from within the party, from the function, so that the spotlight is not taken away from the commoners who are coming to interact with the party president.