A day after Arvind Kejriwal said that his party doesn’t have funds to contest Punjab and Goa polls, it seems the Aam Aadmi Party has collected some money.
According to a news report on the Hindustan Times, the Aam Aadmi Party raised Rs 1.13 crore at a dinner with city traders on Saturday, seeing almost a six-fold jump in donations from 2014 when the trade wing first held such an event.
Looking to expand its reach, the Delhi’s ruling party has stepped up fund collection as it makes assembly poll debut in Punjab and Goa. Both the states go to polls on February 4.
“We managed to raise Rs 1.13 crore from the traders. The donations varied from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2 lakh,” AAP’s trade wing convener Brijesh Goyal said.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was the chief guest at the fundraiser attended by industry minister Satyendra Jain, AAP legislators and around 450 traders, party sources said.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is out of Delhi, busy campaigning in Punjab and Goa.
Also read: Party has no money to fight Punjab, Goa elections: Arvind Kejriwal
On offer was a “simple” vegetarian fare and there were no tickets unlike the 2014 event, held in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, where a diner paid at least Rs 20,000.
“Though only those who pledged support and donated some amount were allowed in the dinner, there was no lower cap on the amount,” Goyal said, adding none of the participants came from big corporate houses.
Around 85% of the donations were in cheques, while the rest was in cash which would be deposited in the party’s bank account, Goyal said.
He said Saturday’s dinner, the fourth such fundraiser hosted by the trade wing, was the most successful. Two such dinners organised ahead of the 2015 assembly polls fetched Rs 50 lakh and Rs 60 lakh.
