After having already achieved the target of nine crore five lakh members by Tuesday, the BJP has extended its countrywide membership by another month which would now terminate by April end. At the end of this exercise, the party would also train 15 lakh members in the process to induct them as “active members” at district levels. They would even be eligible to contest elections at various levels in the organization. Each member would turn “active” only after he or she enrolls 100 more members for the party.
Membership enrollment would be followed by next phases of “Sampark” (contact) and “Samvad” (dialogue) where BJP teams would visit fresh members for “verification” and “validation” of the details furnished to the party. The new members would be made aware of party’s ideology and philosophy. The literature relating to the founding fathers of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier avtar of the BJP, and party’s ideological ‘Gurus’ and veterans would be distributed to the fresh entrants during these two phases, according to party sources.
“The response was overwhelming and therefore, the party extended its campaign for membership by another month. The aim is to increase it as much as possible upto April 30,” they said and claimed that the membership may cross even the 12-crore mark.
BJP president Amit Shah, who was visiting all the states as part of his “contact programme”, would also be completing his tour of 23 states by the time membership drive terminates next month-end. On reports about “cooked up memberships”, party sources said, “You would receive a call from the party for the membership only if you have first made the missed call on the number given by the party.”
Until now, a total of 15 crore missed calls ( the first step to enroll for membership) were received by the party which will be verified and approved by the party in “Sampark” campaigns, sources said. The next phase ,”Samvad”, would seal the deal and lead to “indoctrination” and bring members into the mainstream of the party.
An electronic board in the party headquarters is ticking brightly as the number of members seen to be rushing to the North. BJP has adopted 42 different ways to reach out to new members across the country, including through “Natak Mandlis” and visiting unorganized sectors in all fields, sources in the party claimed. “ Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Tripura and West Bengal where we were weak have shown a rise of five to six per cent in party’s membership,” they said.