It is currently brainstorming various ideas, among which one is that a Congress activist should be allowed to keep 5% of the collected donation money as incentive or commission. So says the presentation given by the party’s treasurer Motilal Vohra to a meeting of general secretaries.
The party's corporate funding has dried up, while that of the rival BJP has increased manifold. This was evident in the recently-concluded assembly elections in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, where Congress candidates were left to fend for themselves.
The Congress organisational structure consists of four primary committees, the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the Sector Congress Committee (SCC) and the Polling Booth Congress Committee (PBCC). Any of these committees which collects funds will be allowed to retain 50% of funds for itself. The rest 15% will be distributed among the other three committees.
The presentation says that because the party is shunned by corporates, it is time to return to the people- because the party believes it still boasts the largest number of active political workers, nearly 4 crore.
“Whoever gives you money will also keep you accountable and also vote for you as well,” says the presentation. The party sources said that vice-president Rahul Gandhi has often asked the AICC to adopt the Kerala model, under which funds are mobilised from the public. In Kerala, the state unit goes directly to people — not to individual or business houses — to collect funds.
Such was the fund crunch, that it affected the party’s ability to campaign during elections. A rally by Sonia Gandhi slotted for the end of December had to be cancelled, as it would cost an estimated Rs1.5 crore. In the Delhi elections, Congress candidates were left to fend for themselves. They had to work like independent candidates with the party symbol as neither the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee nor the AICC could provide funds.
The AICC, which had forgotten to raise public funding for many decades, is now in the process of printing coupons, which will be distributed to members through PCCs as well as through MPs and MLAs. Henceforth, they will be given coupons every year to raise funds.
Party leaders attribute financial crises to over-dependency on corporate funding. “We had fund managers in various states who were closely linked with big business houses. Whenever the party wanted funds, they used to provide us with the money,” a leader said.
It is believed that during Lok Sabha elections, the party had to take a big overdraft of Rs 300 crore from banks. Congress treasurer Moti Lal Vora, while admitting to the overdraft, said there was nothing abnormal about it and it was an internal affair.
Apart from raising money from public, other measures devised by Vohra include raising membership fees. The party has launched a membership drive and renewal of old memberships ahead of two-phase organisational elections. That is expected to raise about Rs.1,000 crore.
The membership fee, which was Rs.5 earlier, is now being raised to Rs250. In a letter to all frontal organisations, Vohra has asked them to send 75% of the amount collected as membership fees to the central organisation. The rest will remain with the state-level organisations.
Other plans for fund raising include selling seats at AICC or PCC sessions. The idea is that one can become a donor if he shells out Rs.10 lakh. Such a donor will get a seat in the delegate sessions of both AICC and homestate PCC, provided he is not the member of any other political party.
No comments:
Post a Comment