The CPI is trying out every option to source funds to tide over a cash crunch to run the campaign for four Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.

Part of the CPM-led Left Democratic Front, the CPI has requested its members to donate Rs 200 each to help the party’s campaign although the alliance is pitching with its human resources.

Rajya Sabha member P. Sandosh Kumar, who is in charge of the party’s campaign in Wayanad where Annie Raja is taking on Rahul Gandhi, told The Telegraph that “it’s a struggle for every rupee”.

“We neither have corporate support nor big donors to prop up our campaign. So we are collecting Rs 200 from each of our members as the main source of funds to tide over the cash crunch,” said Kumar.

The CPM is contesting from three other high-profile constituencies. Pannyan Raveendran is contesting against Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram, Arun Kumar is taking on seven-time MP Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress and V.S. Sunil Kumar is engaged in a triangular fight against K. Muraleedharan of the Congress and Suresh Gopi of the BJP in Thrissur.

“Since it is a long campaign we are stretching the available funds to make sure it lasts by keeping the expenditure at sustainable levels,” Kumar said.

The expenditure limit for Lok Sabha candidates is Rs 95 lakh in all states, including Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and Rs 75 lakh in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim and all other Union Territories.

Party workers and local leaders have pitched in with motor vehicles and other infrastructure to run the hectic campaign in these key constituencies. “Being part of the LDF is a big help since the CPM and their organisational strength is helping
our booth-level activities,” Kumar added.

The feeder organisations of the CPM, such as the Democratic Youth Federation of India, are actively engaged in election work for the LDF candidates in all 20 seats in the state.

Kumar admitted that the financial crisis has been badly affecting the campaign. “But that doesn’t mean we have capitulated and conceded defeat. It only means it’s much more difficult to garner the financial resources required than it was five years ago. But we are contesting to win,” he added.

Raveendran has started a WhatsApp campaign to collect donations from well-wishers and sympathisers. He is pitted against Tharoor, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term from the state capital, and BJP’s central minister Rajeev Chandrashekar.

Sunil Kumar has told reporters in Thrissur that the local CPI unit is working out ways to find money for his campaign.