As party financing gets tougher, Congress is planning a crowdfunding platform which will also accept small donations. Its leaders are not hard up and, on paper, neither is the party. What is the crisis then?
Every once in a while, the drying coffers of Congress make an appearance in news headlines. Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress called its finance deficit “unprecedented”. In 2021, financial support became the focal subject of its committee meetings. And now, it plans a crowdfunding platform where it will also accept donations of any sum, however small.
Politics is big business. Anywhere between Rs 55,000 crore and Rs 60,000 crore is estimated to have been spent on the Lok Sabha election in 2019 (according to this report), more than money spent anywhere on any election. The thing is, about 15-20% of this ‘camouflaged spending’ is estimated to have been by Congress — which comes to a minimum of Rs 8,250 crore.
Politics is big business. Anywhere between Rs 55,000 crore and Rs 60,000 crore is estimated to have been spent on the Lok Sabha election in 2019 (according to this report), more than money spent anywhere on any election. The thing is, about 15-20% of this ‘camouflaged spending’ is estimated to have been by Congress — which comes to a minimum of Rs 8,250 crore.