Amit Shah Urges BJP Leaders to Expand Ideology

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday exhorted the party leaders to take the party's ideology to all corners of the country, expressing confidence in its strong electoral prospects in the impending Assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir and in the future.

Addressing a BJP meeting, where the party decided to embark on its national membership drive from September 1, Mr Shah noted that people have repeatedly expressed their faith in its governments in the states and at the Centre, while rejecting the Congress, sources said.

Mr Shah, sources said, also told the gathering that the Opposition might devalue the BJP's performance in the 2024 general election, but the party has expanded (vote share) in states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, formed its first government in Odisha, which is a positive message for future electoral battles.

The saffron party has set a target of enrolling at least 10 crore new members as part  of its membership drive across all states except in the poll-bound states and Union territory.

BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde will be the convenor of the membership drive. BJP vice-president Rekha Verma will be the co-convenor of the drive.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s national and state office-bearers on Saturday. The membership drive also sets the stage for the election of a new party chief.

The meeting was also attended by party president and Union health minister J.P. Nadda, presidents and office-bearers of all states, except the election-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

The membership drive will be held in phases from September 1 to November 10 and will allow individuals to sign up through a missed call, the party’s website and other digital platforms, said party spokesperson Sambit Patra. It will be held in the poll-bound states and Union territory post elections.

"From September 1, the membership drive will move forward through four mediums. Missed calls are the first medium people to associate with the BJP. The second one is through the QR code. Membership could also be taken through the

NaMo app. Lastly, a person can become a member through the BJP's website -- bjp.org.

Our main objective is to expand the party and spread its ideology in the country," Mr Patra told the media.

"During the address, Mr Shah told the attendees that the BJP, unlike the other parties, works for the development of the country. He said since the day it was established, the party workers have not pursued rajnaitik sukh (political comforts) but followed the path of sangharsh (struggle)... we will keep struggling and work relentlessly for the county," Mr Patra said.

In states where Assembly polls are due this year, the membership drive will take place at a later stage. In remote and hilly areas, the party will rely on the conventional method of paper slips for the membership.

Explaining about the membership drive, Dr Patra said the BJP is a "jivant (living)" political organisation and the organisational election is a democratic exercise which is celebrated like a festival.

The second phase of the membership drive is likely to begin on October 1. The party has also deputed its leaders, including Mr Tawde, Arvind Menon, Dushyant Gautam, Rekha Verma, Rajdeep Roy, Rituraj Sinha to oversee the membership drive of each of the seven morchas, respectively.

Some of the national office-bearers have also been deputed to three to four states, including D. Purendeshwari, who is given the charge of Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu while Ms Verma has been given charge of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Ladakh and Chandigarh.

Mr Tawde has been given the charge of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli. Vijaya Rahatkar has been given the charge of Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

The process of membership drive will lead to the organisational appointments in states, which in turn will set the stage for the election of a new party chief.

Mr Nadda’s tenure ended in January this year but was extended to continue in office till the election of a new party chief. The party’s parliamentary board approved the extension in January.