KOCHI: Buoyed by the steep increase in vote share in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the BJP in Kerala has set an ambitious target of doubling party membership by launching a vigorous campaign.
“The BJP leadership has decided to conduct a massive membership campaign across the country from July 6 to January 31 to strengthen the party at the grass root level. We, in Kerala, have 15 lakh active members and the state unit has set a target of adding 15 lakh, new members. We want to bring more people including minority community members into the party. No decision has been taken on inviting former MP A P Abdullakutty, who was recently expelled from the Congress,” BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai told media persons here on Saturday.
The party core committee meeting held in Kochi also entrusted senior party leaders with the task of coordinating the election campaign in six Assembly seats which fell vacant after the LS elections.
Party state general secretaries M T Ramesh, A N Radhakrishnan, K Surendran and Sobha Surendran have been given the charge of Vattiyoorkavu, Konni, Aroor and Pala constituencies, respectively. Senior leader C K Padmanabhan will coordinate the campaign in Ernakulam constituency, while national executive member P K Krishnadas will hold the responsibility of Manjeswaram.
Regarding the criticism of the NSS the Union Government did not take any efforts to ensure the protection of the age-old practices at Sabarimala temple, Pillai said the party did not want to comment on the assessment as NSS was not a political organisation.