State BJP struggles to achieve target of enrolling15 million members

BJP in Maharashtra extends membership drive deadline as it struggles to reach 15.1 million target; leaders embark on 7-day tour to boost enrolment.

MUMBAI: Struggling to reach the target of 15.1 million primary membership in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been left with no other alternative than to extend the deadline twice. The party president and working presidents have now embarked on a 7-day tour of the state to ensure that the membership target is achieved in the next 15 days.

State BJP struggles to achieve target of enrolling15 million members

The Maharashtra unit of the BJP launched a drive on January 5 with the target of enrolling 15.1 million primary members by January 31. The target could not be achieved, forcing the party to extend the deadline by 15 days. With just four days left for the deadline to end, the membership count has reached 10 million only, compelling the party to extend the deadline by 15 days once again.

State party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule and working president Ravindra Chavan will now embark on the 7-day state tour to push the membership target. “Starting tomorrow from Akola, we will travel to parts of eastern Vidarbha, Nanded in Marathwada and conclude in Mumbai in seven days. We are confident that the enrolment will reach 15.1 million in the next 15 days. We have been getting good response from across society, from hamlets to cities, and from women and youth to people from the dalit and OBC communities,” said Bawankule on Wednesday.

The Maharashtra drive of BJP Sanghatan Parv started later than other states owing to the Assembly polls held in November last year. The Maharashtra unit is one of the many state units of the party that had set the target of over 10 million memberships. However, till February 4, the party could enrol 9.8 million members only in the state and was left with the task of enrolling the remaining 5.3 million in just 11 days. Over the last seven days, the party could enrol only 2 million.

In a function organised to launch the party’s active membership drive on February 4 in Mumbai, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that after the enrolment of 10 million, the drive usually slows down. “It has been witnessed in the states that had set the target of over 10 million that the pace slows down after achieving 10 million. But Maharashtra BJP will achieve it,” he said.

Apart from Bawankule and Chavan, 100 other office bearers have been touring the state day and night and have decided not to return home until the target is achieved. Party leaders said the pace is slow because the enrolment process involves extreme transparency and there was no room for manipulation or fudging of data.

“Ours would be the largest party in the state with membership of 15.1 million. 1,856 of our party workers have enrolled more than 100 members and 1,726 have successfully enrolled over 500 members,” said Bawankule.

Rubbishes Gandhi’s claim

Bawankule also rubbished Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim of an abrupt surge in voters in his constituency, Kamathi. Gandhi, in a press conference last week, had said that the constituency saw a rise of 36,000 voters between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and all the votes went to Bawankule.

“In fact, 15,000 of the 36,000 new votes from the suburban area of Kamathi went to the Congress candidate. I was trailing in 75 booths in Kamathi city and the trailing was of 17,000 votes. BJP has been winning the constituency for the last five elections,” Bawankule said.