BJP reaches out to ‘ignored sections’ in membership drive

Vegetable vendors, porters, milk and betel leaf sellers, daily wagers, IAS and PCS aspirants and waiters are among the nearly one million (10 lakh) new members enrolled

Vegetable vendors, porters, milk and betel leaf sellers, daily wagers, IAS and PCS aspirants and waiters are among the nearly one million (10 lakh) new members enrolled by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing in Uttar Pradesh on the penultimate day of the membership drive that ends on Friday.

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The BJP claimed to have made nearly two million members in the state overall as part of the drive to enlist fresh support, but it is the youth wing which has made news for drafting in nearly all hitherto ‘ignored sections’ by specifically reaching out to them.

“We ran membership drives in railway and bus stations, where we enlisted nearly 10,000 porters in the party. Subsequently, we got around 8122 vegetable vendors to join the BJP, along with 4035 milk sellers,” UP Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) chief Subhash Yaduvansh said.

By Thursday night, the BJYM shared details of the drive, which included support of 16,126 labourers and 1433 waiters too.

“The campaign was conducted among nine targeted categories. The whole aim was to connect with one and all, milk sellers, daily wagers, labourers, guards and construction site agents. We put up membership camps at places like outside coaching centres, among rickshaw pullers, bus and truck drivers and the like,” he explained.

“There is great craze for the party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We witnessed this firsthand when the categories we enumerated enthusiastically supported us,” he said.