Cong launches 'Donate for Nyay' crowdfunding campaign

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday launched a 'Donate for Nyay' crowdfunding campaign for the ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra under which people will get a Rahul Gandhi-signed letter or merchandise in return for their donation.

Launching the campaign at the AICC headquarters here along with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said the idea behind this initiative and the earlier wider crowdfunding campaign of the party, 'Donate for Desh', was not to get money but to motivate workers.

Under the party's 'Donate for Nyay' campaign, any person who donates Rs 670 or more will get a T-shirt signed by Rahul Gandhi as a gift, Maken said.

''Those who donate Rs 67,000 or more will get a 'Nyay Kit' which will contain a T-shirt, bag, band, badge and sticker,'' he said.

''For anything that one donates, he or she will get a letter signed by Rahul ji and a certificate of donation,'' said Maken, flanked by Ramesh, joint treasurer Vijay Inder Singla and Congress minority cell head Imran Pratapgarhi.

He said that under the party's 'Donate for Desh' crowdfunding campaign launched on December 18 last year, Rs 20 crore has been collected.

Within two hours of launching the 'Donate for Nyay' campaign, Rs 2 crore had been collected, the Congress treasurer said.

Asked about funds collected through the crowdfunding campaign being lower than expectations, Maken said, ''We can't contest elections by raising money through our workers. If someone thinks we will get all our funding for the elections through this crowdfunding, he is wrong and this is something we did not intend.'' It is much more than the crowdfunding by any other political party as both the AAP and the BJP had started it but they could not reach even Rs 1 crore.

''You cannot undermine the efforts of 3 lakh Congress people who have given money. The idea is not to get money, the idea is to motivate the workers. Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will be going through one part of the country. The rest of the party workers in other parts will be able to participate by giving Rs 67,'' he said.

So, it is a political platform and not a money generation programme, Maken stressed.

The Rahul Gandhi-led yatra is on a two-day break from January 26 to 27 and will restart from West Bengal's Jalpaiguri on Sunday.

It is expected to enter Bihar on January 29 and return to West Bengal again on January 31 via Malda.

Gandhi is undertaking the over 6,700-km Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Mumbai.