Troubles usually come in waves and the city unit of the Congress certainly has a lot on its plate. After winning just four of the 26 seats in MC elections last week, the party’s poor financial condition has also come to bite and was one of the reasons that led to the poor show.
Consider this: The local party unit’s bank balance at Rs 1 lakh is less than the dues it has outstanding (Rs 1.1 lakh) for the lease of its office, the Congress Bhawan in Sector 35. The party has not paid the yearly lease of Rs 7,460 for 14 years now.
In the MC elections, due to lack of funds, party faced difficulties in mobilising the public. No public relations agency was hired and did not give any advertisements of their policies, programmes and achievement of past 14 years in print or electronic media.
“I ran the office with contributions of a few party members as when I became president, there were no funds in my party account,” said Chandigarh Congress chief Pardeep Chhabra.
Treasurer Sunil Chopra said, “I was appointed treasurer seven months ago and am yet to receive the balance sheets. For paying the lease, we have prepared the demand draft that will be deposited in a day or two.”
{{/usCountry}}Treasurer Sunil Chopra said, “I was appointed treasurer seven months ago and am yet to receive the balance sheets. For paying the lease, we have prepared the demand draft that will be deposited in a day or two.”
{{/usCountry}}Former mayor Subhash Chawla said, “The party has never taken serious steps to raise funds. Now, however, we need to form a committee for the purpose and we need to approach the public for funds. This also increases public connect.”
Another senior leader lamented that even senior party leaders did not contribute during elections and candidates were left to spend on their own.