State BJP Leaders Found Wanting in Membership Drive

 Hyderabad: The ‘Sanghatan parva — Sadasyata abhiyan’ , the BJP membership drive, which is nearing conclusion, has turned out to be a herculean task for the party’s elected representatives in Telangana.

Though the party has not officially set any target, party leaders had claimed that it would touch a record 50 lakh membership this time around.

With a record vote share in the last Lok Sabha elections, in which it won eight seats, the leaders were hoping to replicate its performance in the upcoming local body elections. The party had secured over 76 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls.

As of Saturday, however, sources informed that the party had hardly reached one-third of the target. Many senior leaders, including MLAs and MPs, are skipping review meetings arranged by the party to boost the membership drive, as they have fared poorly as far as new enrollments are concerned.

The party had set a membership target for each shakti kendra. The leaders are not hopeful of securing good membership in places where the party had lost.

Party president J.P. Nadda in a recent review meeting in the city asked the elected representatives to take active part in the membership drive.

Meanwhile, the party’s minority morcha leader Mir Firsath Ali Baqri said that the membership drive in the Old City was getting a huge response and they would set a record. In a statement, Baqri said that many senior citizens and even youngsters had been showing interest in joining the party.

He pointed out that many prominent personalities and educated persons have been joining the party.