Irom Sharmila Chanu party donations cross 17 lakh

IMPHAL: The newly-floated party of rights crusader Irom Sharmila Chanu, the People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA), was flush with funds on Tuesday as donations poured in from all quarters taking the sum to over Rs 17 lakh. More funds are expected to come in before the election.
While mainstream political parties have their own poll coffers, for Sharmila it was a dependence on doles to meet regular election expenses. The PRJA has floated a crowd-funding campaign christened, Ten4Change, and those who support Sharmila and want her to carry forward her battle against rights violations, have been donating generously.
Sharmila ended her 16-year epic fast in protest against the controversial Armed Forces Special Power's Act (AFSPA) on August 9 last year. After years of force-feeding, the fiery but frail Sharmila had broken her fast with a dash of honey. The PRJA was formed two months later on October 18 with a fund-raising campaign. The party is contesting from three constituencies for the 11th Manipur assembly election this spring.
"Today our collections crossed Rs 17 lakh and the amount will keep increasing in the next few days as PRJA sympathizers continue to donate both online and offline," PRJA convener Erendro Leichombam, who is contesting from the prestigious Thangmeiband seat in Imphal West, said.
Among the prominent donors are Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has contributed Rs 50,000 towards PRJA coffers and Bollywood actress Renuka Shahane, who has given a similar amount. The Aam Aadmi Party's Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann, has donated a month's salary to Sharmila's party.
A few days after the Iron Lady of Manipur had ended her protracted fast, she had met Kejriwal to discuss political strategies. The Election Commission of India had recommended the whistle, Sharmila being a guardian of rights, as symbol for the party.
Erendro, who got his masters degree in economic policy from the Harvard University (USA) and was a consultant with the UNDP (Dhaka), said of the total donations, the Manipuri diaspora itself had contributed Rs 7 lakh from the US. "The rest of the Rs 10 lakh has come from local donors and across the country," said Erendro, adding that the party will be fighting for two causes. "The scrapping of AFSPA and the return of true democracy to Manipur," said the 33-year-old. He added that of the total amount to be garnered from donations, Rs 10 lakh would be kept aside for the functioning of the party after the polls and the rest would be spent on campaigns.