The Congress has projected this as an attempt to "change the narrative of Indian politics".
The Congress is crowdsourcing funds for a candidate in this week's Karnataka assembly election pitted against B Sriramulu, a key aide of the mining-millionaire Reddy brothers, an experiment inspired by the model perfected by the Aam Aadmi Party in national capital Delhi.
For the Congress that is trying this model in the Karnataka assembly election, it also helps pack a stinging jab at the BJP that
has been partnered with the
Reddy brothers accused of largescale illegal mining across the iron-ore-rich district of Ballari.
The BJP has given party tickets to
two of the three brothers G Somashekhara Reddy and G Karunakara Reddy and made an unsuccessful attempt to distance itself from the third brother, Janardhan Reddy. Besides the two brothers, the Congress insists there were other candidates fielded by the BJP who were close associates of the Reddy brothers.
B Sriramulu is one of them. The BJP's Lok Sabha member has not only been fielded against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from Badami but also from his stronghold, Molakalmuru.
Sriramulu's party - it later merged with the BJP - had won the assembly election in 2013.
It is from here that the Congress has fielded Yogesh Babu, described as a 33-year-old PhD scholar who is "willing to challenge the 'mafia'".
"It's a clear fight in Karnataka.
Clean Politics vs Dirty Politics. Mafia vs People," Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday.
"With the BJP fielding the corrupt Reddy gang, we are trying a novel approach to fund our candidate. Support our candidate by making a contribution," Mr
Gandhi said, just two days before campaigning ends for the election to be held on May 12.
The Congress has projected the attempt to get the public to bankroll the candidate as an opportunity to "change the narrative of Indian politics".
"If you think clean politics must triumph over corrupt politics, join us and be part of this vision," the party said in its announcement.
It is a model that AAP, which had spawned out of an anti-corruption movement largely seen to target the Congress that in power at the centre, had proven could work.
The AAP had then sent out thousands of party workers to go door-to-door to collect small donations. It was also an opportunity to persuade people to back them. Each rupee that pours into its coffers was also counted a promise of continuing support and the total, a barometer of its popularity. In 2015 assembly elections, AAP won a spectacular 67 of the 70 seats.