A petition has been filed in the Madras High Court against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging dubious collection of money through the NaMo App, the official mobile app of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chennai-based journalist and activist BR Aravindakshan, in the petition, alleged that money collected in the name of government schemes such as ‘Swachh Bharat’ and ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ was received by the BJP’s central office.
The petition requested the court to order an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation or by the police against the BJP, its former president JP Nadda, and nodal contact person of the NaMo app, Amit Malviya.
The petitioner said that lakhs of citizens, including him, had contributed through the NaMo app based on an appeal by the BJP. According to him, the then BJP president JP Nadda, on December 25, 2021, had publicly announced a special ‘micro-donation campaign’ of the BJP through the NaMo App, stating that the money was for strengthening the ‘world’s largest nationalist movement’. The donation link given was www.narendramodi.in.
The petition said that PM Narendra Modi, through his personal X account, too posted information regarding the campaign and had also shared information that he donated Rs 1,000 towards the party fund. “As a follower of the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s personal X account, I personally observed that numerous citizens happened to believe that by donating through the NaMo App / www.narendramodi.in, they were contributing directly to government welfare schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and Kisan Seva, as clearly indicated on the receipts and user interface of the App and website,” it said.
The petitioner said that the receipts for donations made by him to three government schemes were issued by the ‘Central Office, Bharatiya Janata Party’. “These receipts showed that funds ostensibly collected in the name of Union government schemes were actually received by the central office of the political party,” the petitioner said.
Aravindakshan, who is also a Right to Information (RTI) activist, filed multiple RTIs to various government departments seeking the clarification regarding fund collection for government schemes through NaMo app and website. According to him, government departments concerned had stated that the information relating to the NaMo App is not part of records held by them.
“The PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) has confirmed that there is no official app in the name of the Prime Minister of India and that no record exists with respect to any official connection between the NaMo App and the PMO. This establishes that the NaMo App and the website www.narendramodi.in are not official government platforms, despite being extensively used to publicise the activities and appeals of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Union Government schemes,” he said in the petition.
The petitioner said that the donors were not informed whether their contributions actually reached the government accounts of those schemes. He alleged that the contributions were treated solely as party funds, amounting to cheating and criminal breach of trust.