NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set a target of enrolling at least 10 crore new members as part of its membership drive that is set to begin from September 1 across all states except in the poll-bound states and Union territory.
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 attended by party president and Union health minister JP Nadda, Union home Minister Amit Shah, presidents and office bearers of all states, except the election bound states of Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, and senior party leaders. The membership process will be overseen by national general secretary Vinod Tawde.
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, party’s website and other digital platforms, said lawmaker and party spokesperson Sambit Patra. It will be held in the poll-bound states and Union territory post elections and the overall numbers are expected to rise further.
Patra said about 11 crore people signed up as members of the party in 2014 and about 7 crore in 2019 when the membership drive was opened for a limited period.“ Between 2014 and 2019, about 18 crore members signed up as members. The membership drive was due, but because of the pandemic we could not go ahead,” he said.
The BJP, which claims to be the largest political entity globally with 18 crore members, was established on April 6 in 1980. It is currently in power at the Centre for the third consecutive term with support from its allies that together make up the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“Amit 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,” Patra said.
Addressing the media, Patra said the party despite having grown in numbers continues to adhere to the democratic process of having organisational polls and membership drives, which in turn sets it apart from 1,500 other parties. “…We are a living party. We work for our renewal,” he said.
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.
As per the party’s constitution, the first step is to conduct the membership drive and organisational elections from the Mandal (the smallest unit) to the state level which is then followed by elections to pick the new national president. The electoral college consists of National Council and State Council members. Individuals who have served as active members for at least four terms and primary members for a minimum of 15 years are eligible to become national president.
A joint proposal from at least 20 electoral college members can nominate an eligible candidate, which must originate from at least five states where National Council elections have been held.
(Manas Dasgupta)