NEW DELHI: To take on massive membership drive by the BJP, the Congress is planning to waive off mandatory membership fee of Rs 5 charged from every new member as part of its digital membership initiative and expects this to help in registering genuine members.
The party has designed a mobile app for this and it is being piloted in Chhattisgarh, Goa and Rae Bareli and Bulandshahr districts of UP.
According to party sources, the proposal to do away with membership fee will come up for discussion during a November 4 meeting of senior functionaries, including general secretaries, state chiefs and legislature party leaders, from three states. "The plan to waive off membership fee will first be implemented on pilot basis in these three states and based on the feedback, party may decide to replicate it across the country," said a senior Congress leader.
The party charges Rs 5 for a five-year membership. The fee is similar to what is charged by the BJP for one-time membership. “Membership fee of Rs 1 per year is not a big amount but we expect that waiving this off would help in getting committed members,” said another party leader.
Buoyed by results in Maharashtra and Haryana, the party has decided to focus more on membership drive in states going to polls in the next two-three years to build the party at the grassroots level.