HYDERABAD: The BJP, which is planning to emerge as an alternative force to the ruling TRS in the State, is unlikely to achieve its target of enrolling 18 lakh new members by its August 11 deadline. It has so far enrolled about eight lakh members and with just a week left for the deadline, it does not look like the party’s state leadership would be able to enrol 10 lakh members during the period.
Telangana BJP, which as part of its mass outreach programme launched the mega membership drive through its party chief Amit Shah at Ranganayakula Thanda, Mamidipalli village, near Pahadi Shareef of Ranga Reddy district on July 6, was confident of enrolling an additional 18 lakh members during the drive.
The party already has 18 lakh members in the State and is planning to double the number. The party also launched a “BJP4TS” app to facilitate people to enrol themselves through cell phones. However, during the one month period the party could achieve less than 50 per cent of the target and it doesn’t look like it could achieve the target in next one week.
However, senior party leader and former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya expressed confidence that the party would achieve the target. According to him, a total of 1.49 lakh students and youth enrolled through online registration and a similar number of people are expected to enrol online in the next four to five days. “We are getting a good response from people especially from tribal and SC communities. People have a lot of confidence in BJP. We expect to expand our base in the State in coming days,” he claimed.
7000 leaders on the job
In order to speed up the membership as many as 7,000 party leaders were engaged to undertake the membership drive. Each of them were given a target of enrolling 100 members every day or 500 members in a week. The party had been vigorously campaigning and working at booth level across the State to enrol people into the party.
Sirpur Kagaznagar tops with highest enrolment of 28 per cent of the total so far done followed by Adilabad and Karimnagar districts.
The BJP, which had won only one Assembly seat out of the 119 in the Assembly polls, had captured four Lok Sabha seats out of 17 in 2019 general elections. This gave the party leaders and cadre a much needed confidence. The party leadership is planning to capture power in the State in 2023.
Party leaders stated that the State leadership had actually given a target of six lakh additional membership, but it was increased it to 12 lakh and then to 18 lakh by Amit Shah. “Going by the size of the population, even 26 lakh membership is a great achievement,” a local BJP leader stated.