New Delhi, Dec 18: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday launched the party’s crowdfunding campaign here as he urged people to join its fight against unemployment and rising costs. Kharge donated Rs 1,38,000 from his salary to launch the “Donate for Desh” campaign in the presence of Congress leaders and general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, and treasurer Ajay Maken.
“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 the common people to build the country,” he told reporters after the launch.
At one point, he said the amount was equivalent to his one month’s salary. “Please log on to http://donateinc.in and provide your important contribution. This initiative is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s historic ‘Tilak Swaraj Fund’ in 1920-21. This is a nationwide movement to protect the values ??of the Indian Constitution and preserve the 138-year-old glorious history of the Indian National Congress,” the Congress chief said in a post on X.
Taking a swipe, the BJP said the Congress has not been able to save the domain names for its campaign “Donate for Desh”.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, “Irrespective of my political differences, I want to make a fervent appeal that everyone must #DonateForDesh. All my Congress friends, sources, moles, insiders who want to leave soon – Here is the correct link: http://donatefordesh.com.”
While the link shared by Poonawala redirects to a right-wing news website, another link shared by a BJP leader takes one to the party website.
On the campaign, Kharge also said that “Donate for Desh” is a commitment to upholding the rights of marginalised communities, bridging inequalities and being a strong opposition to the authoritarian government that favours a select few in capitalism. As part of the campaign, the Congress will receive money from small donors, he said and added, “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 helped us in the past too”.
“Through ‘Donate for Desh’, we will work to take the country forward by taking help from the general public. The Congress always got help from the general public. Mahatma Gandhi also got independence for the country with the help of people of the country,” he said. (PTI)
