The State BJP on Monday launched its ambitious drive to include 50 lakh members in its fold by the end of March this year. The drive is part of a huge campaign of the party, which has set a target of 10 crore members in the country to be the largest political party of the world. At present the Communist Party of China is the largest political party with 8.5 crore members.
BJP national vice president and national convenor of the membership drive Dinesh Sharma today formally launched the drive in Jharkhand in the presence of senior officials of the party along with CM Raghubar Das, State president Ravindra Rai and other senior leaders of the state.
“The target which was to make 25 lakhs new members has been raised to 50 lakh after today’s discussion. 14 lakh new members have already enrolled till date under the ongoing started since November, 2014, with 10 lakh members from Bihar and 4 lakh members from Jharkhand. We aspire to take this number to 50 lakhs in Jharkhand,” said Sharma talking to media persons on Monday.
The registration for membership has been launched in two modes, manual and online. Registering manually, which is via mobile phones, is free of charges whereas a fee of Rs 1.5 is being charged for online registration. In regions beyond mobile connectivity, enrollment is being carried out by the conventional method of issuing receipts. Old memberships are being renewed too.
To become an active member, one must enlist 100 primary members. Aspiring primary members are required to call or send a SMS to 18002662020, in reply to which a membership number will be given. Following this, the enrolling member should use a seat, having his name, contact number and the membership number. After a list of 100 such members is complete, the aspiring active member should submit the same to membership chief
From April to June, after the culmination of membership drive, member identity cards will be distributed door-to-door and training camp for the new members will be organised in August, 2015. The State BJP also held its working committee meeting on Monday in which several important organisational issues were discussed. Giving details of the meeting State party president Ravindra Rai said that the party will work for strengthening its base in the state and the workers and people’s representatives will come together for the work.
Rai said the ruling coalition may take decision on cabinet expansion in a couple of days, though it will be the sole discretion of CM Raghubar Das to take a call on the new faces in the cabinet. The State president also rubbished the reports that the BJP was in talks with JVM chief Babulal Marandi for a merger. “We have not closed the doors for anyone but at present we have full majority and not talking to anyone for support,” he said.