BENGALURU: During the 2018 assembly elections in Karnataka, the BJP, led by its state Chief BS Yediyurappa went all out to connect with voters from Dalit and backward classes. Now the focus is shifting to minorities, especially Muslims.
Two days after the Triple Talaq bill was passed in both the Houses, BJP’s focus seems to be on reaching out to minorities and making them members of the party. Karnataka state unit alone has set a goal of enrolling at least 5 lakh minorities before August 11.
State Unit general secretary and MLC N Ravikumar on Friday laid out the party’s plan to upgrade its membership drive. Before August 11, BJP hopes to enroll 50 lakh members in the State via personal contact, missed call numbers, helplines as well as the NaMo app. Out of the 50 lakh, the party hopes to enrol five lakh minorities. 8,787 vistaraks of the BJP will work 24/7 dedicatedly to reach the 50 lakh goal. Currently, the party has registered 17,26,070 members but many who have enrolled during the membership drive, including Yediyurappa, have been members of the BJP for decades.
“On August 8 we will hold a state membership drive review meeting in Bengaluru where National Convenor of the initiative and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivaraj Chouhan will take part,” N Ravikumar said.
The party is all set to hold ‘all-day’ registration on August 3, 4, 10 and 11 to give the campaign a boost. BJP will also hold a meeting of all its morchas (wings) on August 5 to review wing-wise membership campaign.
Considering that Muslims, among the minorities, were the only community to completely consolidate against the BJP in 2018 assembly elections as well as 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, the saffron party hopes to appeal to at least a small section of the community.