LUCKNOW: The Congress has set a tough task for ticket aspirants in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Ticket-seekers are feeling the heat as they all have been entrusted with pushing the party’s membership drive by adding 10,000 members each, charging Rs 5 as membership fees.
It may be recalled that at the outset, the grand old party had made it mandatory for ticket seekers to fill their candidature application form for 2022 Assembly elections by depositing Rs 11,000 in the party fund.
This was followed by commencement of membership drive from Gorakhpur-Basti division in eastern UP on November 26. So far, around 350 ticket aspirants have been interviewed by senior party leaders in Gorakhpur.
Now the tentative candidates have been given the target of adding 10,000 party members before their candidature could be finalised. “Those who meet the target will be considered for the ticket. If the aspirants fail to enrol 10,000 members, their application could be reviewed,” said a senior party leader.
In Gorakhpur division, which comprises nine Assembly segments, 68 aspirants have sought ticket from Congress so far, but adding 10,000 members is proving to be a bigger test than getting the ticket to contest the election.
One of the aspirants of Khajni segment in Gorakhpur district said on the condition of anonymity that membership fees of Rs 5 is not a problem but getting 10,000 people and convincing them to take party membership is the real test. However, if the candidates succeed in enrolling 10,000 members each, the party would stand getting 6.80 lakh members only from Gorakhpur division as 68 persons have presented their claim for ticket.
For Gorakhpur Urban and Rural, 10 candidates each have presented their claim for ticket. Similarly, eight in Campierganj, seven in Piparaich, eight in Sahjanwa, seven in Khajani, five in Chauri-Chaura, eight in Basgaon, and four in Chillupar have presented their claim.