Congress Collects Rs 2.81 Crore For Crowdfunding Campaign Within 2 Days

The Congress received Rs 2.81 crore within 48 hours of launching its crowdfunding campaign, with more than 1.13 lakh people donating to the party.

The crowdfunding campaign -- "Donate for Desh" -- was launched on Monday by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge with a donation of Rs 1.38 lakh.

While 80 percent of the transactions to donate money to the party were through UPI, sources said there were as many as 20,000 cyber attacks on the Congress app.

Most of the cyber attacks were from abroad, they said, adding that there were 1,340 attacks for theft of data too.

More than 1,13,700 people donated in the first 48 hours with a total sum of Rs 2.81 crore credited to the party, the sources said.

Thirty-two people, including former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and senior party leaders, have donated more than Rs 1 lakh.

The sources said the Congress will innovate further to generate more funds for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by selling merchandise, such as caps signed by Gandhi, mugs and t-shirts.

Among the states that have made maximum contributions are Maharashtra (Rs 56 lakh), Rajasthan (Rs 26 lakh), Delhi (Rs 20 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 19 lakh) and Karnataka (Rs 18 lakh).

A party leader said a large number of people have donated in Bihar but the amount is small.

He said the party's aim is to reach out to more and more people through the campaign and connect as many people with the Congress as possible.

The sources said more than one crore people have hit the application so far, adding that the crowdfunding would gain momentum during a December 28 rally in Nagpur to mark the party's foundation day.

The Congress will soon appoint observers in various states to step up the campaign.

Besides Mr Kharge and Mr Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, C P Joshi, Sushilkumar Shinde, Devender Yadav, Pawan Khera, Jairam Ramesh, Niranjan Pattanayak and Pariniti Shinde were among those who donated more than Rs 1 lakh.

The campaign was launched to coincide with the 138th year of the formation of the Congress.

The party said the initiative is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's historic "Tilak Swaraj Fund", which was launched more than 100 years ago in 1920-21.

The initiative aims at empowering the party in creating an India that is rich in equal resource distribution and opportunities, a senior leader said.

Donors have been asked to donate in multiples of Rs 138, symbolising the party's enduring commitment to a better India.

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

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)