Congress has collected Rs 10.15 cr as donation under 'Donate for Desh' campaign, says Ajay Maken

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In the crowdfunding campaign 'Donate for Desh', the Congress party has collected a total donation amount of Rs 10.15 crore up till now, reported news agency ANI.

Senior Congress leader and party Treasurer, Ajay Maken, in a post on X, informed that the maximum donation money collected by the party was from Telangana, which mounted to Rs 1.72 crore, followed by Haryana which mounted to Rs 1.21 crore.

"Salute to the enthusiasm of the brave Congress workers of Haryana! Leaving Maharashtra behind, in second place. Total donation amount of Rs 1.21 crore, from Haryana alone! We have now crossed the donation amount of Rs 10.15 crore," he said in a post on X.

The top five states from which the maximum donation under the 'Donate for Desh' campaign was collected were Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier in December, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge launched the crowdfunding campaign 'Donate for Desh' for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, reported ANI.

The Congress party in a post on X, said that the campaign was inspired by the 'Tilak Swaraj Fund' started in the year 1920. On the 138 years completed by Congress, the grand old party urged the citizens to pay the money in multiples of 138 (e.g., Rs 138, Rs 1380, Rs 13,800, or more).

The campaign aims at "empowering the party to create an India rich in equal resource distribution and opportunities", reported ANI.

Speaking about the campaign, Kharge said that this is the first time that Congress is asking people for donations and cited Mahatma Gandhi, who also took donations from the public during the freedom struggle, reported ANI.

"It's the first time that Congress is asking people for donations for the nation... If you work only by depending on the rich, then you have to follow their policies. Mahatma Gandhi also took donations from the public during the freedom struggle," said Kharge, reported ANI.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari criticised the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday for its sluggish approach in investigating the allegations made in the Hindenburg report against Adani Group.

Raising concerns on the delay, Tewari pointed out that the Hindenburg report came out a year ago and alleged that SEBI has been delaying it since then.

(With inputs from ANI)