Next target is winning states such as Bengal and Odisha: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

india

Updated: Jun 23, 2019 14:24 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have registered landslide victories in 2014 and 19 Lok Sabha elections but its peak is yet to come, said former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Announcing the launch of a fresh countrywide membership drive from July 6, with special focus on the non-BJP ruled states; Chouhan said the party’s target now is to form governments in West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Kashmir.

Chouhan, who has been made the national convener of membership campaign, was in Lucknow on Saturday to announce the launch. UP BJP president and union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was also with him.

Earlier, he held a meeting with party leaders to discuss the launch of the membership drive in UP.

“The BJP has decided to kick off a nationwide membership drive from July 6 to August 11 to expand the base of the party organisation in the non-BJP ruled states and further strengthen the organisation in other states,” he said.

Sharing details of the campaign, he said people could just give a missed call on a given number to enroll themselves as party’s member after which the party would make their physical verification to convert them into active members.

He said the party had decided to make members on all 10 lakh booths in UP.

He said the party enrolled 1.80 crore new members in UP last time and the target this time, he said, was to increase the number by a minimum of 20%.

“We will also launch a threeday special campaign at public places to enroll people from different walks of life,” said former MP CM.Chouhan said that while the government’s motto was ‘Sabka sath, sabka, vikas and sabka vishswas’, the organisation’s slogan was ‘sarvasparshi’ and sarvavyapi’ which means an organisation that touches everyone and was present everywhere.

Chouhan said the membership drive launched after 2014 Lok Sabha elections had contributed significantly to the party’s subsequent spread and victories and the fresh membership campaign, he added, aimed at taking the same forward.

The party had embarked upon a similar aggressive membership drive campaign after 2014 Lok Sabha polls bringing 11 crore new members under its fold after it claimed to be the world’s largest political party.

Replying to a question, Chouhan claimed the Madhya Pradesh’s people were now regretting their decision of having voted the BJP out of power in the state.

“People ask me, Mama, when you will return to power,” he said, claiming, “The Kamal Nath government will fall due to its inherent contradiction.”