AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal at a fund-raising event in Mumbai
Arvind Kejriwal is headed to New York. On Sunday, his Aam Aadmi Party or AAP is holding a fund-raiser in Manhattan. So far, Mr Kejriwal has lunched with traders in Delhi and dined with industrialists and others in Mumbai, who paid Rs 20,000 each to meet the man who is running for a second term as Chief Minister of Delhi. In New York, the party will set the price at either 5,000 or 10,000 dollars per head - a decision is expected soon.
Mr Kejriwal's Mumbai dinner raised nearly a crore; the Delhi lunch brought in half that. So far, it claims to have collected Rs 2 crore in all. The party says it will now seek donations online using #IFundHonestPoliticsChallenge. It also plans to launch an Ice Bucket-style campaign to encourage donations.
AAP wants to raise Rs 30 crore for its campaign for the Delhi election, which is likely to be held early next year. After Mr Kejriwal quit as Chief Minister in February, the capital was governed by the Centre for several months. AAP took the Centre to the Supreme Court, demanding new elections. Last month, the union government declared that the Delhi legislature was dissolved, paving the way for elections.
AAP, launched in November 2012, seized public imagination and interest by declaring a battle against corruption as its raison d'etre. It picked a broom as its party symbol to signal its clean-up mission.
In the election a year ago, the party placed second and formed a minority government.
Mr Kejriwal's decision to quit within 49 days over the stalling of an anti-graft bill by other parties has been described by him as a huge miscalculation. "I hope people will forgive that," he has said in recent interviews, as political opponents say his party lacks the experience or commitment to serve as anything but serial disruptors with a talent for attention-seizing demonstrations.