New Delhi: Activist and Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Saket Gokhale has come under fire for a crowdfunding campaign that he began in 2019.
Gokhale joined TMC in August last year, saying that the party takes an “aggressive” stand on issues. In his profile shared by TMC, he was reportedly described as a transparency investigator, social activist and a former foreign correspondent of a newspaper.
However, over the past two days, several Twitter users demanded accountability for the alleged Rs 76 lakh raised by him through a crowdfunding account he started nearly three years ago.
Q. How much it cost to file one RTI?
A. Rs. 10.INC handler & hyper RTI activist Saket Gokhale who admits to just 'survive' on crowdfunding, made Rs 76 Lac in a span of 17 months (avg just Rs 4.4Lac/pm)
Read on…
1/n pic.twitter.com/4nPcJhT9BX
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 20, 2021
In response, Gokhale has claimed that the funds were raised for his “sustenance” — “like a salary to be able to do my work full-time”.
Speaking to ThePrint, Gokhale refused to comment on the allegations. “Please ask me if you have any questions about the Trinamool’s election campaign in Goa. I have no time to indulge in responding to coordinated IT cell attacks and neither am I a story,” he said.
How it started
In August 2019, Gokhale had tweeted a crowdfunding link, saying that he has filed a public interest litigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Supreme Court and that along with this, he has been “fighting on multiple fronts on my meager savings”.
“Without ur support (small or big), I can’t keep fighting alone & breaking down walls. And I’m not ashamed to ask for help bcoz none of this is personal (sic),” the Twitter thread had claimed, adding that “every rupee counts & I produce an account of every rupee spent”.
APPEAL:
As many of u might know, I have a PIL against PM Modi in the SC. Despite every attempt to block it & intimidate me, I’m determined to fight.
Why? Bcoz I believe we’ll win this. PM Modi knows that too.
The link below has all the details (1/3)https://t.co/j5v2gHk7nX
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) August 26, 2019
In November 2019, he tweeted out an appeal once again, saying that he “gave up a cushy job to fight the BJP/RSS”. He asked for support, asserting that it will “not only help pay the bills but also allow me to widen the scope of what I’ve been doing & do it more relentlessly”.
With the crowdfunding link was a message saying: “If you believe I’m fighting a battle that’s worth fighting, pls contribute here (sic)”.
Along with battling hate speech, there's a lot of other interventions I'm working on.
Every penny you contribute goes a long way.
If you believe I'm fighting a battle that's worth fighting, pls contribute here:https://t.co/1TjnlhT7Ft
(7/7)
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) November 22, 2019
‘Milked Modi hatred to buy a luxurious lifestyle’
While the crowdfunding links in the tweets aren’t functional anymore, Twitter users have claimed that Gokhale has since raised over Rs 76 lakh.
Saket Gokhale has the audacity to ask for accountability every day as he completely denies for details of the money he has raised from crowdfunding and spent mostly for personal use.
Apparently the amount is over Rs. 76 lacs in the span of a year!@AITCofficial @MamataOfficial https://t.co/cbe5yFnZYr
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) January 2, 2022
In February 2020, Gokhale had acknowledged having raised over Rs 22 lakh through the fundraiser.
Hi Mitali.
Yes – that's indeed the total amount (ballpark) that's been raised. Since it's an open-ended campaign, the website doesn't have the option of showing the total. However, it does list out each & every donation received (which perhaps helped you calculate it)
(1/2)
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) February 2, 2020
Several Twitter users have now unleashed an attack on Gokhale for the funds raised by him and the lack of accountability around it.
While one Twitter user wrote that Gokhale “milked your Hindu/Modi hatred to buy himself a luxurious life”, another dubbed Gokhale as “the conman who conned the entire Left ecosystem”, and a third one called it a “sad day for Kranti”.
#SaketGokhale milked your Hindu/Modi hatred to buy himself a luxurious life
Don't cry bcz you feel conned by it
You so deserve it#saket https://t.co/9JdfF23Rwk pic.twitter.com/DyQheowoRw
— Debojyoti Dasgupta (@tisDev) January 2, 2022
The Man. The Legend. The #SaketGokhale. pic.twitter.com/DjhWTsk9sn
— Telangana Se Hoon BC (@NotAgainRaj) January 2, 2022
Krantikaaris funded Saket Gokhale’s lifestyle and now are hurt because it does not look like Kranti 😂😂
Hilarious stuff.
I have grudging respect for him because he took all the idiots for a ride, got 48 lakhs for his hot air and became a celebrity. Sad day for Kranti.
— Pratyasha Rath (@pratyasharath) January 1, 2022
75+ lakh rupees. I could have closed my home loan and have some money left over to buy a new car. Aaj se mein bhi RTI activist. 🤡
— Papa Shark 🦈 🌈 🇮🇳 (@ThePapaShark_) January 2, 2022
Another Twitter user claimed that “Gokhale monetised the frustration of Modi-haters”.
Cost of filing an RTI-Rs10/. Gokhale collected 50lakhs just because he spewed venom against Modiji & BJP.
His Profit & Loss A/c:
Money raised by Crowdfunding – ₹ 76 lakhs
Duration – 17 Months
RTI filed – 131
Cost of 1 RTI – ₹ 10
Total Cost – ₹ 1310
Net Profit – ₹ 75,98,690 pic.twitter.com/TTOSfMRiMT
— Ponnappa Pran (@ponnappa_pran) January 2, 2022
‘Attack an activist when he joins a political party’
In his defense, Gokhale tweeted that when he first raised funds, “the page clearly stated that it was for my sustenance to do my work full-time without a job (not for Rs. 10 RTI expenses)…I raised funds for my sustenance – like a salary to be able to do my work full-time (sic)”.
“The kind people who supported me are aware of it. You don’t promise ‘audited accounts’ for your monthly life expenses,” he added.
When I first raised funds, the page clearly stated that it was for my sustenance to do my work full-time without a job (not for Rs. 10 RTI expenses).
The kind people who supported me are aware of it. You don’t promise “audited accounts” for your monthly life expenses.
(1/6)
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) January 1, 2022
Gokhale further alleged the criticism on his crowdfunding actually began after he lodged a complaint and demanded immediate action against organisers and speakers of a Dharma Sansad held in Haridwar last month, against hate speeches allegedly made against a community.
“So it started with me being the 1st person to go beyond outrage & file a complaint. And when I pointed that out against allegations of my party ‘doing nothing’, it was conveniently diverted to something else,” Gokhale explained.
However, poet and writer Hussain Haidry pointed out that the complaint was not made on TMC letterhead.
Sir ji, please file a complaint on the TMC letterhead the next time if you want to publicly claim that TMC filed a complaint.
Even I can file a police complaint like this on my own letterhead and write my job designation in the end.
"Outside of Twitter world" it seems 🙄 https://t.co/uZtfG4KSQv pic.twitter.com/cXlgt3FhTr
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) December 27, 2021
Get this: I’m the ONLY leader from ANY political party (except AIMIM) who filed a complaint about #HaridwarHateAssembly.
Problem? It’s not on “TMC letterhead”
And what you’re saying is a fact: anyone can file a police complaint.
Problem is no one does in the “Twitter world” 🙄 https://t.co/dEzORgB0lp
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) December 29, 2021
Haidry also lashed out at Gokhale for the lack of accountability over the funds raised.
Saket Gokhale has the audacity to ask for accountability every day as he completely denies for details of the money he has raised from crowdfunding and spent mostly for personal use.
Apparently the amount is over Rs. 76 lacs in the span of a year!@AITCofficial @MamataOfficial https://t.co/cbe5yFnZYr
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) January 2, 2022
Saket Gokhale Accountability—
While raising funds: "I produce an account of every rupee spent."
When asked about every rupee spent: "I didn't promise anything." pic.twitter.com/hnfZMPD9kK
— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) January 1, 2022
In his tweets, Gokhale also claimed that he had deactivated his crowdfunding account around mid-2020. However, another Twitter user claimed that the account was still active until last year.
Saket Gokhale claims that crowdfunding campaign was deactivated around mid-2020. It was very much activated till 2021. pic.twitter.com/QgB4k3zisj
— Nimo Tai 2.0 (@Cryptic_Miind) January 1, 2022
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