BJP membership drive; 30 lakh Muslims join

LUCKNOW: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the Muslim community to judge him on the basis of his action and performance, reports from the states show that there has been drastic jump in the number of Muslims joining the BJP during the recently concluded membership drive. Even though these members were inducted through 'missed calls', the increase is unprecedented, say the party workers involved with the drive. Until the last update, around 30 lakh Muslims had joined BJP in the recent drive.

Although the party's national minority cell chief Abdul Rasheed Ansari said that the exact strength of Muslims in the party was never calculated earlier, it could be roughly said that it has almost doubled now. Membership figures made available to TOI by the minority cell indicate that states where BJP is in power have seen the maximum surge in Muslims joining the party. Around 4 lakh of them have joined in MP, followed by Gujarat (2.6 lakh), Delhi (2.5 lakh), West Bengal (2.3 lakh) Rajasthan and Assam (over 2 lakh each). UP BJP has also recorded around 1.75 lakh 'missed calls' from Muslims.

After this surge, the challenges that lie before the party are also daunting.

The first is to take this number from the present 3% (of the total 10 crore members) to 10% of the total strength. The other challenge would be to ensure that a majority of 30 lakh Muslims who have joined are converted into party workers through the mass contact programme that is going on.

"No doubt it is a big challenge," Ansari said and added that every effort was being made to bridge the gap. Citing one strategy, he said that it had been decided that in the booth-level team of four to five members, at least one would be from minority community. Political observers say that if the party is able to take these two challenges, it will not only help the Modi government achieve its objective of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' but also ensure a good show in polls in UP, Bihar and West Bengal. Modi government itself is making every effort to sell inclusive development while staying away from controversial issues. Besides, the PM has warned the hotheads and fringe elements in the party against making divisive statements.

During a meeting with a delegation of Muslim community, Modi appealed to the community to judge him by his deeds of the past one year rather than relying on Opposition's claims. The party think tank is quite happy about the rise in the number of Muslim members in the party. Siddiqui said that the number of Muslims in UP BJP never touched the 1 lakh-mark, but this time the party had seen registration of 1.75 members from minority community. Confirming the figures, state minority cell chief Rumana Siddiqui, said that even in Muzaffarnagar, hit by communal riots in 2013, 15,000 Muslims have joined that party.