Nadda Upset as BJP Falters in Membership Drive, Rajasthan & Bihar Pulled Up as Yogi’s UP Leads the Way | Exclusive

The BJP failed to meet its internal target on September 25, the last day of the membership drive’s first leg. (Getty)

Sources in the BJP told News18 that despite a centralised effort by the party’s senior leadership down to the Mandal level, the BJP could only enrol 83 lakh members on September 25 — the birth anniversary of Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyaya — 17 lakh short of its internal target

JP Nadda is upset. Behind his benign smile, the BJP chief hides his frustration at the party’s failure to meet its internal target of hitting the one-crore membership mark on September 25 — the birth anniversary of Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

Sources in the BJP told News18 on the condition of anonymity that despite a centralised effort by the party’s senior leadership down to the Mandal level, the BJP could only enrol 83 lakh members on the said day — 17 lakh short of its internal target. Coincidentally, September 25 was the last day of the membership drive’s first leg.

STATES PULLED UP

There are at least two Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled states that feature on the list of states that have performed poorly, say BJP sources. One of them is Rajasthan, where the BJP won 115 seats in December last year, ousting the Congress. The state could only enrol 26 lakh members by the end of the first leg against the set target of over 55 lakh.

The other state is Bihar where the BJP is in power in alliance with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). The state BJP, which saw Dilip Jaiswal take over reins from Samrat Chowdhury this July, could only enrol close to 32 lakh members versus the target of 65 lakh.

Other states like Telangana, where the BJP’s organisational strength is weak, have been able to enrol just 10 lakh members. Following the poor show, Nadda pulled up the state unit, including MPs and MLAs from the state, and asked them to target a membership of over 77 lakh. In the worst-case scenario, he has set a 50-lakh membership target after he recently attended the BJP’s membership registration programme at Harita Plaza. He is also believed to have told the leaders that membership figures will determine party posts. He also held a closed-door meeting in Patna where he is believed to have pulled up not just the Bihar BJP president and the deputy chief minister but also party MLAs and MLCs.

In a closed-door meeting in Rajasthan, BJP’s General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh expressed his frustration at Rajasthan’s dismal performance and sounded the alarm bells not just for the state’s top leadership but every BJP MP and MLA, slamming their “indifferent attitude”.

YOGI’s UP, HIMANTA’s ASSAM SHOW THE WAY

While Bihar, Telangana, and Rajasthan are lagging behind in the membership drive, states like Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh and Himanta Biswa Sarma’s Assam have shown how the job is to be done. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam together form the bulk of the membership so far — 3 crore.

UP is leading the chart with 1.5 crore memberships alone, setting a benchmark for other states. However, BJP sources say despite leading, Uttar Pradesh couldn’t reach the target of two crore that was set for them in a review meeting.

“Uttar Pradesh is a big state and the party’s national leadership has trust in the organisation and the leadership of Yogi-ji. That’s why such an ambitious target was set for us. In the second leg, we are confident of reaching the two-crore mark,” said a BJP functionary.

Both MP and Gujarat are sitting pretty at the second and third spots with hardly any difference. Both the states have been able to achieve 75 per cent of their target. To put things in context, UP, despite being No. 1, could achieve close to 65 per cent of the target.

BJP’s popular face in the Northeast, Sarma, ensured the enrolment of 50 lakh members compared to the target of 65 lakh.

Among smaller states, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh exceeded expectations. Of these, Himachal is the only Congress-ruled state which is exhibiting early signs of an anti-establishment mood amid the Grand Old Party’s decision to boycott the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony in Ayodhya.