When Power Appeals: Inside the PM-Linked Donation Drive With No Official Sanction

What RTI reveals: Neither ‘narendramodi.in’ nor the NaMo App is government-approved. The Prime Minister’s involvement in the BJP’s donation campaign raises serious questions about authority and accountability.

On December 25, 2021, JP Nadda — then the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and now the Union Minister of Health — announced via his official X (formerly Twitter) account the launch of the BJP’s micro-donation initiative. Marking the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the starting point, the post shared the donation link “narendramodi.in/donation/”, stating that the BJP was beginning a donation campaign from December 25, 2021, until February 11, 2022, the death anniversary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyaya, and urged people to contribute.

In his second post on the matter, JP Nadda shared further details about the campaign. According to the post, the donation feature in the Narendra Modi App, commonly known as the NaMo App, would serve as the platform for gathering contributions. He described the campaign as an initiative to support ‘the world’s largest nationalist movement’.

In his third post related to the donation campaign, shared on December 25, 2021, JP Nadda posted a receipt of his own contribution and urged people to invite friends and family to join the campaign using the referral code on the NaMo App.

On the same day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also shared a post through his official X account. Calling the donation campaign the BJP’s “special connect campaign,” he urged people to support BJP Karyakarthas and shared the donation link.

In his immediate next post, similar to JP Nadda, the PM shared a donation receipt of INR 1000/- with a caption, ”I have donated Rs. 1,000 towards the party fund of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Our ideal of always putting the Nation First and the culture of lifelong selfless service by our cadre will be further strengthened by your micro donation. Help make BJP strong. Help make India strong.”

Several users on X also shared similar receipts as a reply to the PM’s post linking the donation to welfare schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao,  Swach Bharat Mission,

What is NaMo App (Narendra Modi App)?

The “About this app” section of the Namo App on the Google Play Store describes it as the official mobile application of Narendra Modi, indicating that it offers a direct means of communication with the Prime Minister. The app was introduced in June 2015.

Apart from providing timely updates about the PM’s activities, the app also sells merchandizes such as t-shirts, badges. caps, notebook. stickers etc.

The App came under the scanner in 2016 for its privacy concerns. On March 27, 2018, in a series of X posts, a French Vigilante hacker alleged that the App was sending personal data, including email IDs, photos, gender and names of the users to a third-party domain “api.narendramodi.in“ without their consent.

Through our Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) analysis, we discovered that the app played a key role in disseminating X post using hashtags like #ModiHaiTohMumkinHai at consistent intervals.

The hashtag is used to propel a chain of posts that puts PM Narendra Modi and the BJP in a positive light.

We also identified a coordinated attempt to push the NaMo App on X(formerly Twitter), where multiple users shared the same video under the hashtags #HamaraAppNaMoApp and #ProfileUpdateNaMoApp with captions urging people to update their profiles on the App. All these posts mention PM’s official X account.

The video suggests that updating the profile on the Namo App will help them receive personalised messages from the PM.

Is it right for the PM of India to request donations for a particular political party?

According to the Constitution of India, as a public officeholder, the Prime Minister must adhere to principles of free and fair elections under Articles 324-329 and Article 19(1)(c) on freedom of association and avoid actions that could lead to misuse of official position for partisan fundraising.

A detailed look into the donation link revealed that a dropdown menu under the section “Cause for donation” lists central government schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao,  Swach Bharat Mission, and Kisan Seva.

What is wrong with these donations?

Assuming that donations were legitimately collected for Union Government schemes, B. R. Aravindakshan, a Chennai based journalist, voluntarily made below mentioned donations through the NaMo App on the following dates:

₹100 for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao on Januray 25, 2022.

₹100 for Swachh Bharat on February 14, 2022.

₹100 for Kisan Seva on February 17, 2022.

To his surprise, he found that all receipts were issued not by any Government department, but by the Central Office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). To test whether this donation collection mechanism was still active, he again voluntarily contributed ₹100 each on November 11, 2025 and confirmed that it was.

Concerned about the legality of such micro-donations linked to central government schemes, he filed RTIs between 2022-2023 to the respective departments, and these were the outcomes.

(a) Ministry of Jal Shakti – Swachh Bharat Mission

• RTI Reply dated 14.02.2022:
  “There is no provision in SBM(G) Phase-II guidelines regarding raising of funds by NGO or individuals for Swachh Bharat projects.”

(b) Ministry of Women & Child Development – Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

• RTI Reply dated 21.02.2022:
  “There is no such provision to give special permission to raise funds through the NaMo App for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme.”

(c) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

• RTI Appeal Reply dated 04.04.2022:
  “No such apps are promoted by this Department. The Government of India does not raise funds for any welfare apps… agriculture is a State subject.”

(d) Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology / MyGov / NeGD

• Multiple replies clearly state:
  “Information sought is not part of the record held by this office.”
  This indicates the Government has no administrative link with the NaMo App.

(e) Prime Minister’s Office

• RTI Reply dated 16.11.2023:
  “There is no official App in the name of the Prime Minister of India.”
• Regarding NaMo App:
  “Information sought does not form part of records held by this office.”

These RTI responses clarify that neither the website www.narendramodi.in nor the NaMo App is government-approved, and neither is authorised in any manner to engage in fundraising for government schemes. The absence of any formal connections between the Prime Minister’s office and the website and app hints that the Prime Minister’s involvement in this donation initiative may amount to an abuse of authority.

In his letter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) dated November 19, B. R. Aravindakshan flagged his concerns and urged the authorities to take immediate necessary action. He emphasised that the donations may have posed a serious risk of “public deception.” “The public may have been led to believe that they were contributing to legitimate government schemes,” he said. He further pointed out that the donations could amount to violations of multiple legal frameworks—financial, electoral, and IT laws—including provisions under the Representation of the People Act.

He added that the use of the Prime Minister’s public appeal intensified the gravity of the situation, as citizens could “reasonably” believe that the donation links posted on the verified social media accounts of the Prime Minister carried official sanction. This, according to Aravindakshan, raised serious questions about the integrity and authenticity of the fundraising process.

He requested a high-level inquiry to examine the details about the collected funds and to determine whether any statutory provisions had been violated.