New Delhi: As the Congress party announced a nationwide crowdfunding campaign 'Donate for Desh' to generate resources for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has slammed the Congress alleging that the crowdfunding campaign is yet another attempt to siphon off public money and enrich the Gandhi family. 

BJP leader Kiren Rijiju claimed that the campaign is aimed at collecting funds for the expenses of the first family. “With the money heist of their MP being caught, Congress comes up with a new ‘Donate for Dynasty’ scheme to sustain lifestyle costs of a dynasty never used to living without excessive luxury, other people’s wealth and uncontrolled power,” said Rijiju in a post on X. 

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shehzad Ponnawalla attacked the Congress party during a press conference on Saturday in New Delhi. Poonawalla alleged that those who looted India for 60 years were now seeking donations from the same country.

Taking the attack forward, BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said that the crowdfunding campaign has been brought in to divert attention from the huge cash that central agencies recovered from MP Dheeraj Sahu’s premises during raids. 

"Don't be fooled by the Congress's lofty talk of this crowdsourcing being inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's historic Tilak Swaraj Fund. They will tarnish both the Mahatma and Tilak. Going by their previous track record, this will turn out to be nothing but another attempt to siphon off public money and enrich the Gandhis," he alleged in a post on X.

"All the hard-earned money people donate, if they do, will go to the Gandhis, who will continue to enjoy the good life. Worse, the move will be reduced to nothing, but another means to solicit dirty money, the kind Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu has been caught with," Malviya alleged and added "Don't ‘Donate for Dynasty'".

Congress to launch Donate for Desh on Dec 18 

The Congress party on Saturday announced it will launch a nationwide crowdfunding campaign 'Donate for Desh' on December 18 to generate resources for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress said that the campaign will be launched on Monday by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi.

At a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and Treasurer Ajay Maken said Indians above the age of 18 can donate a minimum of Rs 138 or in multiples such as Rs 1,380, Rs 13,800 and so on to the campaign. 

Why number 138? 

"Our inaugural campaign -- 'Donate for Behtar Bharat' -- commemorates the 138-year journey of the Indian National Congress. Embracing our history, we invite supporters to donate in multiples of Rs 138, symbolising the party's enduring commitment to a better India," Venugopal said during the press conference emphasisng why the party has picked a multiple of 138 as the acceptable donation amount. 

The Congress said it has created two online channels for the crowdfunding campaign -- a dedicated portal at donateinc.in and the official Congress website at inc.in.

(With PTI inputs)