LUCKNOW: Striving to expand the cadre base of the party from 11 crores to 20 crores during the month-long membership drive, the BJP in Uttar Pradesh has introduced an element of competition to drive the workers to do more.
The BJP has asked the members to induct 50 new persons to the party in order to receive a post of pride in the organisation in their respective districts and also at the state level. The state unit has set a target of roping at least 50 lakh new members into the party fold during the ongoing membership drive.
At present, the BJP has over 75,000 active members in the state. However, the party is now focusing to win over Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi Party constituencies vigorously especially ahead of the by-poll to 12 assembly seats.
The BJP might have won three Yadav strongholds—Kannauj, Badaun and Firozabad -- in recently concluded Lok Sabha elections but it feels the need for more. A roadmap has been charted out by the state leadership to make concrete inroads into the domains held by Yadavs and Jatavs -- the core vote base respectively of SP and SP.
The party is now trying to make the best out the fall out of the SP, BSP grand alliance which failed to make a massive dent in the BJP vote bank.
The decision to expand party base in Yadav and Jatav territories was taken recently at a high-level meeting of state leaders with BJP’s working president JP Nadda in state capital ahead of launching the membership drive. In fact, the party identified around 30,000 such booths where it could not register a victory in 2017 UP assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Keeping its Yadav leaders at front, the party has entrusted them with making the organisation strong on seats dominated by Yadavs. They have been directed to win over more and more youths from the Yadav community who were inclined towards the BJP.
Minister of state Girish Yadav, state chief of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Subhash Yaduvansh BJP backward wing general secretary Vinod Yadav, party MP Harnath Singh Yadav and many others have been given the responsibility to bring more members from their community into the party fold.
“The party is eyeing districts like Bahraich, Barabanki, Lucknow, Ambedkarnagar, Sahranpur, Aligarh, Pratapgarh, Rampur, Kanpur (urban) Chitrakoot, Firoazabad and Hamirpur to rope Yadavs and Jatavs in the aprty during month-long membership drive,” says a senior BJP leader of Uttar Pradesh.
Moreover, it has also been decided that the vacant posts in Commissions and corporations would be filled by appointing those Yadav faces who have been associated with the party for a long time and played an important role in winning Yadav votes for the party in recent elections.
The party even feels that they have been given comparatively less representation in the government so far. Even, the party sources claim that party functionaries have been asked to look out for beneficiaries of the state and the central government schemes and take them into the party fold.