Kanhaiya Kumar, the Congress candidate from northeast Delhi, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance his election campaign, drawing support from a diverse array of contributors. This campaign has gained notable traction, raising ₹47,04,359 as of Tuesday afternoon, which is 51% of the targeted ₹92,50,000, with two days remaining.
Prominent supporters include comedian Kunal Kamra, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, and several academics, both domestic and international. Contributions have come from over 2,037 people, with amounts ranging from ₹100 to ₹500,000. Interestingly, most donors have chosen to remain anonymous and have made small donations, indicating broad-based support from common citizens.
Anshul Trivedi, a national media panelist for Congress overseeing Kumar’s campaign, highlighted that the majority of contributions come from ordinary people who resonate with Kumar’s background and political vision. Trivedi emphasized that this grassroots support is crucial, especially given the financial challenges faced by the Congress party, exacerbated by what he describes as an unlevel playing field under the current regime.
The crowdfunding initiative stands out in the context of Congress’s financial struggles. Recently, Congress candidate Sucharita Mohanty from Puri returned her ticket due to insufficient funds, underscoring the party’s resource constraints. The legal cap on individual candidate spending in larger Lok Sabha constituencies is ₹95 lakh, and ₹75 lakh in smaller ones, adding to the financial pressures.
Supporters of Kumar, like former JNU professors Jayati Ghosh, Mohan Rao, and Harbans Mukhiya, as well as faculty from foreign universities such as Johns Hopkins University, see crowdfunding as a means to counterbalance the dominance of money in politics. Ghosh particularly advocates for public funding of elections as an ideal solution to ensure transparency and fairness.
Kumar’s campaign has also received public endorsements from notable figures like singer Rekha Bhardwaj and comedian Kunal Kamra. Kamra, sharing the campaign link on social media, encouraged his followers to support Kumar’s journey to the Lok Sabha 2024.
This isn’t Kumar’s first crowdfunding effort; in 2019, he successfully raised ₹70 lakh while contesting from Bihar’s Begusarai. Rahul Verma from the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) contextualized this approach, noting that crowdfunding has long been a method for politicians globally to raise funds, with the only difference being the modern digital medium facilitating these efforts.
Overall, the crowdfunding drive for Kanhaiya Kumar’s campaign reflects a significant shift towards grassroots political financing, engaging a wide spectrum of supporters to challenge the entrenched financial power structures in Indian politics.
