New Delhi, Jan 12: Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Sunday claimed that a crowdfunding campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to fight polls is the biggest evidence of the party's honesty.
Addressing media persons here, CM Atishi shared that since its launch, the AAP has been fighting the polls with donations and the support of the Delhi people.
"Since AAP was launched, the people of Delhi supported the party and made donations with which it contested the polls and won. We used to do 'nukkad sabhas' and seek funds from the people of Delhi who used to provide money ranging from Rs 10 to 50 to support the 'Imaandari ki Rajneeti' (politics of honesty). Not only in 2013 but also in 2015 and 2020, people supported APP as we are honest," she said.
Hitting out at the opposition, she said that other political parties take money from influential people and work for them, but AAP takes money from the common man and works for them.
Sharing that she needs Rs 40 lakh to contest the polls from the Kalkaji constituency, CM Atishi said: "If we want to collect money with dishonesty and corruption, it would have taken less than a day to collect the amount."
CM Atishi said: "Collecting money by the wrong means is very easy for a Chief Minister. Delhi has a Budget of Rs 77,000 crore and Rs 40 lakh is .0000 per cent of it."
"If we had taken money from private schools, we could not have controlled their fees. Then we could not have renovated government schools. If we had taken money from private hospitals, government medical facilities could not have been maintained," she said while trying to portray AAP as the honest party.
She pointed out that if AAP had taken money from contractors of flyovers and school builders, then in just a few days, the roofs of the educational institution would have started leaking and flyovers would have developed cracks.
She also shared the link for the crowdfunding campaign and appealed to people to donate as per their will.
Urging people to donate, she said, "Over the past five years, you've stood by me as an MLA, a minister, and now as the Chief Minister of Delhi. None of this would have been possible without your blessings and support."
"Now, as we face another election campaign, I need your support once again," she said in a post on social media platform X.
Notably, the AAP has been in the eye of the storm over excise policy and corruption cases involving AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Rajya sabha member Sanjay Singh.
The 70-member Delhi Assembly will go to polls on February 5 and the results will be out on February 8.
