BJP national general secretary and Bengal minder Sunil Bansal, along with co-minder Mangal Pandey, came down heavily on the party state unit on Saturday for failing to meet the membership target of one crore, even after a 15-day deadline extension.
Despite this extension, the state BJP achieved less than one-third of the target. The number of members has not even touched 30 lakh so far.
The BJP’s membership drive officially ended on November 30, but Bengal received a two-week extension at the request of state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar.
During the ‘Sangathan Parv’ workshop in Delhi in late November, Majumdar sought extra time from Union home minister Amit Shah, citing delays caused by state leaders’ involvement in pressing matters, including the campaign related to the RG Kar rape and murder.
While the nationwide drive, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2, ended as planned, Bengal’s effort, relaunched by Amit Shah on October 27 in Calcutta, was extended until December 15. Shah had set the one-crore target
for Bengal
Pandey and Bansal slammed the state BJP leaders along with the district level and mandal committee leaders in a meeting on Saturday. Bansal urged the BJP state unit to intensify grassroots recruitment efforts or face the risk of being sidelined.
Asked about the membership drive, BJP chief spokesperson of the state Samik Bhattacharya said: “This is our party’s internal matter and I cannot discuss it with everyone. I can allow you to my drawing room but not to my bedroom.”
“Given the current circumstances, achieving the one-crore membership target appears impossible,” a senior BJP leader told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity.
Sources in the party said that the central leaders are very unhappy with the performance of some of the districts, particularly South and North 24-Parganas, Calcutta, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and Jhargram.
The central leadership of the BJP, however, is pleased with the performance of state president and Balurghat MP Majumdar. His district, South Dinajpur, has recorded the highest membership numbers so far — over one lakh.
