Bengal BJP extends membership drive to December 31 after falling short of one crore target

Kolkata: After a tepid response during membership drive in West Bengal, Bengal BJP has extended the date of its membership drive to December 31 with the total number of memberships reaching around 24-25 lakh till date, BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar said. The total number of members is way short of the target of one crore set by Union home minister Amit Shah.

“We have extended the date till December 31 and will decide if we need to increase it further after December,” Majumdar said.

The BJP state President told ET that the response from people during the membership drive was high, especially in districts like Nadia in South Bengal while in North Bengal’s Alipurduar and South Dinajpur.”


“Overall North Bengal, we have received huge response, especially in Alipurduar,” Majumdar pointed out. Present and former MP, MLAs and all across the organization have been given targets to fulfil the one crore target of BJP Bengal. A target was set for one crore by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in run upto 2026 Bengal assembly polls.

Alipurduar MP Manoj Tigga told ET that he has been receiving very good response in his district. However, BJP lost the Madarihat by-poll seat to Trinamool Congress which was vacated by Tigga. Tigga was the chief whip of the saffron party in assembly and MLA from Madarihat. Internal squabble in North Bengal is believed to be one of the reasons behind the defeat.

Another BJP Purulia MP Jytorirmoy Singh Mahato said the membership drive has gained momentum in his parliamentary Constituency, Howrah and Midnapore, where he is in-charge as general secretary.

Meanwhile, senior central BJP leader Sunil Bansal has recently taken stock of the membership drive in a meeting in New Delhi. Bansal was apparently not happy with the performance of some MLAs and MPs in attracting members in their constituencies.