AAP to hold fund-raising dinner in Bathinda

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party will host a dinner with its leaders Bhagwant Mann and Sanjay Singh in Bathinda on Tuesday to raise funds for its political conference in Muktsar on January 14, which will be addressed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls.

The party is expecting the attendance of more than 100 people at the dinner with comedian-turned-Sangrur MP Mann and party in-charge for Punjab affairs Singh at a local hotel in Bathinda.

The party has fixed the cost at Rs 5,000 per person.

"The dinner is being hosted in Bathinda and an open offer has been made to people to attend the dinner. We are expecting 100-125 people including traders, shopkeepers to attend the dinner," AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said.

"The money raised from this dinner will be used for meeting the expenditure to be incurred on Maghi Mela conference," he said.

Besides Singh and Mann, party convener (Punjab) Sucha Singh Chottepur and Durgesh Pathak will also attend the fund-raising dinner. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had already held such fund-raising dinners in the past.

Meanwhile, AAP is gearing up for the "mega" political conference on the occasion of 'Maghi Mela' on January 14 at Muktsar and the conference will be addressed by Kejriwal. The party will launch its campaign for the 2017 assembly polls in Punjab from the conference as it aims to "repeat the historic win of Delhi polls in Punjab".

The Maghi mela conference will allow the AAP to spell out its poll agenda for the people of Punjab. Kejriwal also released a message in chaste Punjabi in an effort to connect with rural people of the state, appealing to them attend this rally.

The party is also expecting massive participation at the conference. AAP had performed well in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Punjab winning four of the 13 seats in the state.