NEW DELHI: The BJP is set to keep its doors wide open for professionals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have told party chief Amit Shah that the battle against corruption can’t be decisively won until professionals are brought into politics in substantial numbers. This comes at a time when an estimated 80 per cent of the political class is lacking permanent sources of income.On the lines of the US, most friendly country for professionals to join political parties, the BJP has asked its MPs to identify five professionals in each of their constituencies, who would be drafted into the party.“At the peak of the November 8 demonetisation rollout last year, the PM had held a closed-door meeting of the BJP core group consisting of party top brass and senior ministers.
He had then flagged that the root cause of corruption and thereby cash in the economy was because almost 80 per cent of the political workers across the political spectrum have no sources of regular income. Such people join politics to become middlemen to make quick bucks, which further help them climb the political ladder. Therefore, the PM had noted that the professionals with higher education and assured sources of income should be roped in politics,” sources close to the BJP chief said.
Thus, the BJP chief has delegated the challenge to the Parliamentarians of the party to raise a cadre of professionals across the country. “The MPs can identify five professionals, which may include MBAs, lawyers, chartered accountants, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs. With close to 335 MPs around from the party, there could be a first batch of 1,685 professionals joining the BJP. They will afterwards be put through rigorous training in the party ideology, besides political works on the ground,” added the BJP functionary.
Incidentally, the BJP is banking on the appeal of the party among the youth to stay ahead of its rivals. The BJP chief has been taking a number of steps for strengthening the organisation and expanding the party base in the recent times. “The first batch of the professionals joining the BJP in an organised way could have a domino effect in the immediate future, which in turn may help the party substantially enhance its base among educated youth. At the same time if the experiment is successful, it could prove to be a big change agent in cleaning the electoral politics of corruption,” opined the BJP functionary.