BJP membership drive from September 2, will be a test of post-LS polls strength

In the run-up to the election of a new BJP chief in January 2025, the party is set to launch its membership drive and renewal of membership of the existing cadre from September 2 through missed calls to dedicated numbers, WhatsApp, the NaMo App, a QR code or the usual forms. This otherwise routine exercise is crucial for the party this time as it will be a measure of where its present popularity stands after it was reduced to 240 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

“BJP renews the membership of its existing members every six years. This process was disrupted due to the Covid pandemic this time. The membership renewal drive will kick off with party chief JP Nadda renewing the membership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2 evening,” party general secretary Vinod Tawde said.

The BJP claims to be the largest political organisation in any country in the world. The drive to get new members, which is done every three years before the new BJP president is elected, will also be kickstarted simultaneously.



Before 2015, when the then BJP chief Amit Shah had presided over this exercise in which the process of doing so by giving a missed call to a dedicated number was introduced, the Communist Party of China was the organisation with the highest number of members. Tawde said that since that the drive, where the party claimed to have crossed the 18-crore members mark, the BJP is widely recognised as the one holding that distinction.

With BJP failing to get a clear majority on its own and being limited to 240 Lok Sabha seats –– well short of the half-way mark of 272 this time –– the membership drive will be a crucial test of where its current strength stands. BJP had won 303 seats in 2019 and 282 in 2014 and this was reflected in the tremendous success of the previous membership drives. Party insiders said beating the record of the last drive may be difficult this time. The figure of “active members” –– those who are eligible for contesting internal elections and becoming office-bearers in the BJP –– will also be equally significant.

The first phase of this drive will be completed by September 25 and after analysing the progress, the second phase will be launched from October 1 to 15. The party will look into which geographic areas have shown a lukewarm response and also have a special focus on tribal and hilly areas.


Tawde said those interested in taking membership can give a missed call on 8800002024 after which the BJP membership drive team headed by him will reach out to the person for the remaining formalities.

Through this membership drive, BJP is also collecting data about its members, including their caste, gender, age, residence, and other details.

Tawde, who is convenor of this drive, will be assisted by four co-convenors and four other party leaders as members in this campaign. He said BJP units in 625 districts and 9,000 mandals, and thousands of booth committee members will carry out the exercise at their level. Union ministers, BJP chief ministers, deputy CMs, ministers will also be roped in for this process and are likely to be allocated districts where they will oversee the drive.

Once this process is over, BJP will initiate the process of electing active members from Oct 16 to 31. To become an active member, an existing member must have been active in the party for the last three years, should have enrolled a minimum of 50 members, and has to pay Rs 100. Such members then become eligible for becoming office-bearers from the Mandal in-charge up.