Bihar polls: BJP looks to cash in on increased membership

NEW DELHI: With Bihar assembly polls being the first electoral test of the "success" of BJP's membership drive, party leaders have been asked to make all out efforts to leverage the new additions to their ranks to capture power in the politically crucial state.

The saffron party has claimed to have enrolled more than 10 crore members across the country and in Bihar the number is over 75 lakh, which means every ninth voter in the state is a BJP member.

BJP leaders and MPs from Bihar, who met party President Amit Shah on Friday to deliberate on their strategy for the crucial assembly elections, were asked to leverage these massive numbers in their campaign amid apprehension that a poor poll outcome may raise some eyebrows over the much-touted 10 crore mark.

Bihar and Jharkhand have total membership of over 93 lakh and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the state will have over 75 lakh of them.

"We will verify their details in the coming days and use their strength to win the assembly election," he said.

Party leaders said they were themselves unsure about the seriousness of the new members as the verification process had just begun after they were enrolled through an automated telephonic process.

The state leaders have been asked to hold events on May 26 across the state to mark the first anniversary of the Narendra Modi government and then on June 21 which the UN has decided to observe as World Yoga Day.

Though the party would be celebrating both events countrywide, Bihar will see many more localised functions keeping in view the impending elections.

Pitted against the formidable combine of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD's Lalu Prasad, BJP is working overtime to win the key state to turn back the political momentum in its favour after it suffered a setback in Delhi.