CHENNAI: Taking a leaf out of the book of its ideological foe, the BJP, the DMK has turned to the digital sphere to boost its membership in the State. While previously, potential members would have to approach local party functionaries to join the party, they can now simply sign up on a website through the DMK’s “Ellorum Nummudan” online membership drive.
The initiative, launched by party chief MK Stalin on party founder CN Annadurai’s birth anniversary on September 15, would ease access to membership by circumventing local barriers. The party hopes that the drive will help strengthen its cadre base and draw more young people into the DMK. According to a party statement, anyone over the age of 18 can become a member of the party by signing up at the website and uploading their personal information. No membership fee will be charged. Local party units will verify the information before formally inducting one into the party.
New members will be able to contest in internal elections a year after joining the party, the statement added. District functionaries have been conducting camps to help enrol new members through the initiative. Over 3.1 lakh people have become members of the party, as of September 22, and it aims to increase its membership by 25 lakh in just 45 days.
“Earlier one had to approach a local functionary to get enrolled. There were some practical difficulties at the time as some new aspirants might be reluctant to approach functionaries for various reasons, including ego hassles,” said MM Balu, state organiser for weavers wing, Pudukkottai North district unit. Unlike parties that allowed people to join with just a missed call, new members would still be subject to some scrutiny, a functionary from the party’s I-T wing explained.
“The aspirant should register and then enter the OTP sent to their mobile number. They also have to register the code for the Assembly constituency under which they fall.” Radha Raguraman, a headquarters orator, said the drive would enable people who have voted for the party, but don’t know the local functionaries, to join the party. However, the DMK does not seem to have planned an orientation programme for its new members to propagate its ideology and explain political stances.
While such programmes, for all members, used to be conducted at regular intervals, they haven’t been held in recent years. The party’s youth wing did conduct regular programmes to clarify its political stances, clear up doubts and explain its history but they came to a stop with the lockdown. Online membership drives are not new in Tamil Nadu. In 2014, the ruling AIADMK provided the facility for membership cards to be downloaded from its website. The Congress and the BJP too have also undertaken similar drives earlier.
verification process
Although those who successfully register online will get an online card, their details will be verified by local functionaries of the party before they are given formal membership