BJP reaches 4 million mark in the membership drive in Telangana
Hyderabad: The Telangana BJP said it had crossed the 40 lakh membership mark in the ongoing ‘Sanghatan Parv’ launched on September 8 this year. This was against 11 lakh members enrolled in 2014, it said.
With 75 lakh voters choosing the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections, the party has set an ambitious target of converting at least 70 per cent of those voters as members.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle, membership drive incharge N. Ramchander Rao, who is touring the state to motivate party workers to reach the target, said that over 33 lakh members were enrolled by a missed call through a referral link in which those intending to join the party can sign up.
Another 5.5 lakh members, mostly less educated, were enrolled through a missed call and were guided by a party team to provide details. The remaining members were enrolled through a physical proforma, mostly from 30 remote tribal mandals which have no mobile connectivity.
Ramchander Rao said that around 6 lakh members including 1 lakh from the rural areas, had been enrolled from Medchal-Malkajgiri, the largest Lok Sabha constituency in the country. Karimnagar stood second with over 3 lakh members and followed by Nizamabad, Medak and Rangareddy districts.
He claimed that about 2.5 lakh members from the minorities had signed up, having benefited by the welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government. The target was 3 lakh. He said around 4 lakh Dalits had joined the party.
The BJP leader the party intended to form committees in all 35,000 booths in the state, after reaching the 25,000-mark by December 20. In the Lok Sabha polls, Ramchander Rao explained, the BJP had stood first in about 15,000 booths, second in 10,000 booths and secured little less in another 9,000.
Active members who enrolled more than 50 members each in the current membership drive and paid Rs 100 would be eligible to get party posts from the booth level.
Former MLA Yendala Laxminarayana has been appointed as returning officer for the party's internal polls. The mandal and district level committees would be formed later this month and the state president elected before mid-January. The national president would be elected by the last week of January.