As the West Bengal BJP waits for its new state president, the party unit has extended its membership drive till the end of the year as the number of registered members is reportedly far short of the target set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Earlier this week, BJP national general secretary and Bengal in-charge Sunil Bansal held a meeting to review the situation, and party sources expressed their dismay at the Bengal unit’s inability to register 3 million members.
Speaking to The Indian Express, BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya, who is in charge of the membership drive, said, “Only Sukant Mazumdar and I know the actual numbers. There is no truth in what is said. We will achieve our goal under any circumstances.”
While inaugurating the BJP’s membership drive ‘Sadasyata Abhiyan’ on October 27, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the party would come to power in West Bengal after the next assembly elections if it could register 10 million members in the state.
Earlier, an internal party meeting was held at the BJP office in central Kolkata by Leader of Opposition Subendu Adhikari to understand why the MLAs could not achieve the target and why more strategies should be adopted. However, as many MLAs were absent from the meeting, there are indications that there may be internal strife within the party.
Ambika Roy, a BJP MLA from Kalyani, said, “We were busy with Jharkhand elections, by-elections and assembly elections, so we could not reach grassroots workers. Now we are free, we have started a membership drive. People want to join us but are unable to because of the tyranny of the ruling Trinamool. , but we will achieve certain goals.”
Meanwhile, party MLA Agnimitra Paul admitted to the delay in starting the membership drive, “There was a little delay due to the RG car issue and other reasons but now we are focused on it. It is a big responsibility for me as I have to look after the entire Asansol district, not just Asansol North.
BJP insiders said the performance of several districts like Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, Jhargram as well as North and South 24 Parganas was unsatisfactory. “Last time the membership drive was through miss calls. We started the drive during the festival, then the paddy harvesting season started so the numbers were less. Now it has picked up speed and we will try our best. I myself have been traveling continuously for the past one month for this purpose. I am,” said Dilip Ghosh, the former state president of the BJP.
During his two-day visit in October, Amit Shah had said that BJP’s next big goal would be to form the government in West Bengal. “We have won in Haryana. We will win in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. After that, our target is Bengal,’ he said. The state is scheduled to hold its next assembly elections in 2026.
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