You’ve got mail: BJP gets request from AAP seeking donations for elections

The AAP has recently launched a campaign seeking donations from party supporters and donors to raise money for fighting the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The email received by the BJP was similar to what AAP supporters and donors have received as part of the party’s ‘big monthly donation campaign’ to raise money.

Delhi BJP’s social media handlers were in for a shock Thursday. A message in the party’s email inbox flashed the name of their political rivals in Delhi — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — who requested them for donations to fund their election campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari acknowledged BJP receiving email from AAP requesting donation for upcoming elections but set a condition for a personal donation. (Sonu Mehta/HT File)

Though the Delhi BJP confirmed having received the email and shared a screen shot of the mail, HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the mail as the AAP did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking a comment .

The request from the AAP’s official email ID, signed by Delhi chief minister and party convener Arvind Kejriwal, flashed in the BJP mailbox around 1.30pm on Thursday. The mail read, “After three years in government, we have a situation that the Delhi government is flush with funds but the AAP is poor...Many elections are coming up in next two years. We don’t have money. We need money. We need your support.”

The AAP has recently launched a campaign seeking donations from party supporters and donors to raise money for fighting the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The email received by the BJP was similar to what AAP supporters and donors have received as part of the party’s ‘big monthly donation campaign’ to raise money.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari was quick to acknowledge the donation request. He even went on to say that he would pay Kejriwal’s party over ₹1 lakh from his personal earnings if the Delhi CM agreed to clear the proposal for Delhi Metro’s Phase IV, which is pending with the Delhi government for almost three years now.

“Arvind Kejriwal ji, people have chosen you to represent them. Don’t punish them. Delhi gave you 67 out of 70 seats. The chief minister of that place is saying that we will not give you Phase 4 of Metro? You want donations? Clear the Delhi Metro Phase 4 and I will give you ₹111,100 from the money I have earned from singing,” Tiwari tweeted on Thursday.

HT had on Tuesday reported that the proposal for Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 is stuck with the Delhi government and they are yet to communicate a rejection or confirmation of the routes proposed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

BJP leaders said that they are not aware if this was a strategy of the AAP to “gain sympathy” or if this was a mistake by their social media team. They, however, said it was the first time that they received such a request for donations to fund the election campaigns of a political rival.