Indian students, cab drivers in Australia ride to AAP's help, donate funds for campaign

Here’s an example of the growing support for the Aam Aadmi Party not just in India but also abroad.

A bunch of Indians, many of them students working part-time as taxi drivers in Australia, have donated Rs 1,87,000 to the Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab candidates, according to information provided on the website of the party.

A 23-year old student from Adelaide, Harroop Singh, who used to worked as a part-time cab driver in Australia earlier, took the initiative of encouraging cab drivers to donate for the India’s newest political party. “We have given a chance to both the Congress and the BJP, but they have done nothing. AAP is the only party that is transparent. We donated because we think there is a need for a better system and governance,” he told Firstbiz in a phone call from Australia. Singh said he studied automotive technology in Australia.

As most of the taxi drivers Singh tapped for funds in Australia are from Punjab, they opted to donate to the AAP candidates in the state to “bring about a change”.

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Singh added that the Shiromani Akali Dal, the ruling party in the state, is simply “selling addiction”. “There’s a big drug problem in Punjab. There’s violence in the state and there are no employment opportunities. We all wanted to see a change in the state, and we are hopeful that the AAP can do that,” he said.

Punjab will go to the polls on 30 April, with the drug issue dominating the election narrative like never before. Ahead of the 2012 assembly polls, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had set off a furore by stating that 70 percent of the youth in the state are hooked to drugs. Although the incumbent Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government accused him of exaggerating the numbers, the drug problem in the state is undoubtedly worrisome.

The total amount was donated by 90 people, most of them students in the 24-26 years age group. That averages to about Rs 2,000 per person.

AAP’s Dr Dharamvira Gandhi contesting from Patiala seems to be the favourite choice of the Australian student-cabbies. The official website of the Aam Aadmi Party notes that Dharamvira Gandhi received a total of Rs 21,542 from the Adelaide Taxi Drivers association in Australia.

Incidentally, the association has not donated to all Punjab contestants; it has decided it will fund only the “right candidates”. Singh pointed out that the association had been unhappy with AAP’s Jalandhar candidate, Jyoti Mann, and as a result, it had refused to fund her. Earlier, AAP had declared Rajesh Padam as its candidate from Jalandar. But, within four days, AAP withdrew his candidature after being accused of being a “Congressman”.

Bhai Baldeep Singh from the Khadoor Sahib constituency seemed to be the cab driver association’s second favourite candidate, garnering donations of Rs 20,981.

And this is not all. Harroop Singh, who also donated $100 (Rs 5,630 approximately), says that Indians living in Australia continue to donate to the party.

It all started when Harroop’s friend, who is an AAP volunteer, got in touch with him on Facebook and asked him if he could help arrange funds for the party. “This is the only party that doesn’t buy votes and doesn’t have the money for posters and promotion. So, six of my friends and I encouraged other cab drivers to donate,” he explained.

When asked if the taxi drivers’ association believes that AAP’s leader, Arvind Kejriwal, has a chance in winning the elections, Harroop said, “No matter whether he becomes the PM or not, the party can bring about a change. Kejriwal has proved that and we are all for supporting the right party.”

Harroop and his fellow taxi drivers also think that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, may be talked about a lot but he is not the right leader. “Modi is not a deserving candidate. He is not educated. He can’t even speak in English properly. How will he represent the country abroad?” he told_Firstbiz._“We also hate his religion politics,” he added.

AAP has used several innovative methods to raise funds. Besides the usual door to door campaigns, the party has also raised funds from overseas through google hangouts and by using a mobile application.

[caption id=“attachment_83422” align=“aligncenter” width=“544”]  Pie-chart showing donations to the AAP from different countries.[/caption]

The above chart shows that though India is the largest contributor of funds to the party, 38 percent contributions come from other countries. United States and UAE are the two biggest contributors after India.