Aam Aadmi Party's donation figures nosedive post rift

The ever faithful Aam Aadmi Party fan following seems to have gone on the back foot when it comes to party donations.

The ever faithful Aam Aadmi Party fan following seems to have gone on the back foot when it comes to party donations.

The last 10 days have seen the donation figures of the party dwindle to Rs 42,727.

The first 10 days of the month saw people donating Rs 3,27,806 to the party.

The party has found itself in the midst of a controversy over the past two months in connection with the ouster of founding members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the top decision-making bodies of the party. The two, along with party members Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, have been in the news during the past week for holding a dialogue with party volunteers without the consent of the party leadership.

The four have been issued show-cause notices to explain why they should not be expelled from the party.

Those who donate money to the party have seemingly not taken kindly to this step, as in an uncharacteristic manner the donations after the controversy have dried up.

A day after it was revealed that the man who had donated the blue Wagon R to Arvind Kejriwal wanted it back, the party received Rs 1,24,569 in donations.

Before that, the party received Rs 1,20,689 in donations a day after Yadav and Bhushan were voted out of the party’s national executive.

The day that the sting, where Arvind Kejriwal was heard asking former AAP MLA Rajesh Garg to poach Congress MLAs, was released, the party received Rs 1,303,862 in donations.

Of the six blocks of 10 days each that the Hindustan Times analysed, this is the lowest donation received.

According to AAP leaders, the party has not been seeking donations actively over the past month or so and the low donations are not worrying them.

It has, however, been seen that party supporters have showed their support for the party by donating generously. The recent drought in donations seems to indicate that supporters are not too happy with whatever has happened in the party over the last 10 days.