BJP Adds Four Crore Members In A Month, Sees Steep Rise In West Bengal Membership

The latest membership drive of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi at his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on 6 July has garnered over four crore members till Tuesday (20 August), reports The Print.

The greatest gains were made in West Bengal which saw a whooping 140 per cent increase in the membership, with 35 lakh people joining BJP in the state, making the total state membership reach 60 lakh.

In absolute numbers, Uttar Pradesh topped the charts with 60 lakh new members entering BJP in addition to the existing 90 lakh members. The saffron party has more reason to cheer since these numbers only indicate online registrations, said a senior party leader. The offline data to be released later this week will provide a clearer picture.

“We had earlier set a target of two crore members, which was revised to five crore and we have already crossed four,” the leader said. “So far we have only looked at online data but many have become members through offline modes. That data is being collated and will be calculated. We are confident of crossing the 5-crore mark,” he said.

Another senior BJP leader said that door-to-door campaigning, camps held by one lakh vistaaraks (these include MPs, MLAs, state unit presidents among others) who visited market areas, bus stops etc was bearing fruit. He attributed the success to PM Modi’s popularity as well as abrogation of Article 370.