LUCKNOW: Striving to expand the cadre base of the party in Uttar Pradesh during the month-long membership drive, the BJP is now focusing to win over SP and BSP constituencies, especially with the bypolls to 12 Assembly seats around the corner.
The state unit has set a target of inducting at least 50 lakh new members into the party. At present, UP BJP has over 75,000 active members.
The party might have won three Yadav strongholds — Kannauj, Badaun and Firozabad — in the Lok Sabha elections but it’s not resting at that.
A roadmap has been charted out by the state leadership to make concrete inroads into the domains held by the Yadavs and the Jatavs, the core vote base of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), respectively.
The decision was taken recently at a high-level meeting of state leaders with BJP working president JP Nadda.
The fact that the two regional parties have turned foes again as their grand alliance to stop the saffron party’s victory march in the Lok Sabha elections has only made the BJP’s work easier.
“The party is eyeing districts like Bahraich, Barabanki, Lucknow, Ambedkarnagar, Sahranpur, Aligar, Pratapgarh, Rampur, Kanpur (urban) Chitrakoot, Firoazabad and Hamirpur to rope in Yadavs and Jatavs in the party during the membership drive,” says a senior state BJP leader.
The party has entrusted its Yadav leaders with making the organisation strong on seats dominated by the community and wean over more and more youths to the BJP.
Minister of State Girish Yadav, among many others, has been told to bring their community members into the party fold.