Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 23 October, put out a tweet requesting the masses to contribute any amount of money to the Bharatiya Janta Party, through the Narendra Modi app. Modi himself, donated Rs 1000 to the same.

"You can contribute any amount from Rs 5 to Rs. 1000 via the ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App.’ Your support and contribution will strengthen the resolve of our Karyakartas to serve the nation,” he said. The aim here, he said, was to “spread a message of transparency in public life”.

Taking a cue from Modi, BJP Chief Amit Shah also shared that he had donated Rs 1,000 to the party through the app, and urged others to join the initiative.

Modi’s initiative was announced a few days after the Aam Aadmi Party launched a campaign to gather funds by going door-to-door.

Quoting a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), The Indian Express stated that the BJP had received Rs 532.27 crore as donation during the financial year 2016-17, which was a 593 percent increase as compared to the Rs 76.85 crore that it claimed to have received in the previous fiscal (2015-16).

The same report claimed that the BJP declared a total of Rs 532.27 crore from 1,194 donations, while the Indian National Congress declared that it received Rs 41.90 cr from 599 donations.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)