Cong apes BJP, tries its luck online

With the Congress’ ongoing membership drive receiving lukewarm response, for the first time, the party has decided to enroll members and volunteers online. 

Taking a cue from its rivals BJP and AAP, the Congress on Sunday took the digital route for membership and used  Twitter to ask people to “come and be part of the World’s largest democratic political organisation.” Simultaneously, the cash-strapped party has also asked its workers to contribute `250 annually to make it “self reliant and self-sufficient”. 

The party has initiated the drive titling “Digital Volunteers” asking people to emerge “Stronger-Together.”  Through the drive it has sought, besides name and contacts, details like State and lok Sabha constituency of the person interested in becoming the volunteer. While BJP got home about 10 crore members during its enrolment drive, the Congress has been finding it difficult to bring people in its fold in several States, especially in the most populous Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

The one-month extension given the membership drive will come to an end on July 15. The drive has got three extensions since October 2014. With the initial deadline of March 31, 2015 it received very lukewarm response in many States forcing it to extending the deadline to May 15 which was further extended till June 15. 

Sources in AICC Central Election Authority, which is coordinating the membership drive and the organisational elections, said in many States party workers were just filling forms randomly and not following the set procedure of verification and taking photographs.Congress president Sonia Gandhi has since directed party seniors to go down to the block level and ensure better enrolment. Party sources claim, the membership drive  has relatively better response from BJP-ruled States like Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, Telangana from the southern states

AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora, who has been the party’s decades — old treasurer said each worker will be asked to contribute `250 every year as the party plans to make itself self-sufficient. Some part of the generated funds will be divulged to the State units and maximum will be put in the coffers of AICC. 

According to Vora, the contribution will begin once the membership drive concludes. Party’s organisational polls, which were to start last month, have been put on hold till further orders.