The financial position of the Congress party has reached a critical point post its 2014 political marginalisation. The grand old party, which has been struggling to make ends meet, has now sent out SOS messages to the party loyalists to come to its rescue.
In fact, if reports are to be believed, the prospects of the party is so unpropitious that nowadays whenever the party leaders meet at the AICC meetings, apart from organizational matters like the nomination of state presidents, the prime topic of discussion is the finances of the party. “Finances have been a focus area during recent meetings,” an AICC leader has been quoted as saying.
According to reports, the top Party managers had met, all the ministers of Punjab, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and some organisational members, separately last month to discuss the issue. The ministers and party associates have been briefed about the party’s precarious financial situation and asked to take up the responsibility to improve the party’s financial picture.
For the grand old party, there are a few things which are of immediate concern. Firstly, it is the upcoming assembly elections in five states – Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, for which the party requires instant fund mobilisation. Secondly, the new Congress headquarters in the National capital which is under construction for some time now. For this too, the party requires a generous amount of funds, which the party at the moment is in the dearth of. While BJP has moved to the headquarters built by it, Congress continues to operate from the government bungalow in Delhi.
Foreseeably, the Congress party, along with an existential crisis has also been going through a major financial crisis post-2014 poll debacle. It is an established fact that the ability to generate political funding from private donors depends largely on a party’s political strength and resilience. And, unfortunately, the grand old party now has governments in only Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while it is tottering on the brink in the poll-bound Puducherry. Though it is part of ruling coalitions in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the focus there is mostly on the lead players in the alliances like Shiv Sena, NCP and JMM.
Owing to its desperation to prevail over the serious crisis, it is learnt that the Congress party additionally plans to ask its elected representatives throughout the nation for contributions.
Donation to the Congress party fund slips in 2019-20, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi contribute less than several party leaders
Earlier we reported, how the donation to the Congress party fund in 2019-2020 had also seen a sharp decline as compared to the previous year. Congress gathered Rs 139.01 crore in contributions in 2019-2020. This is a significant dip from last years collection of Rs 146 crore.
Moreover, what was extraordinary about the ECI report on Congress’ contribution for 2019-20, was that the members of the Gandhi family, which has been running the show since the inception of the party, have appeared to be the most close-fisted. In fact, the 23 senior leaders of the party invariably called the G-23 had made much larger contributions than the party president Sonia Gandhi who contributed Rs 50,000 to the party fund, while her son and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi donated Rs 54,000.