The BJP is struggling to accomplish even one-third of its target of enrolling one crore members in Bengal and with the extended deadline to meet the goal set to end in three days, the party accused the Trinamool Congress of intimidating people who intended to join the saffron camp.

“You can see the state’s condition. There is no democratic atmosphere here. Recently, Assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra were conducted peacefully, without any violence. In Bengal, however, even a cooperative election requires the deployment of central forces,” BJP MP from Purulia, Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, said.

“Under such circumstances, people are afraid to join the BJP, as they face threats from TMC goons. Despite this, our membership drive is progressing in the right direction, and we are confident that we will achieve our target in time,” he added.

Union home minister Amit Shah, during his visit to Calcutta on October 27, set a target of one crore members for the state BJP. However, the state BJP has struggled to meet the goal, prompting central leaders to extend the deadline multiple times — initially from November 30 to December 15, and later to December 31.

According to BJP sources, the party enrolled around 35 lakh members till Wednesday. As BJP leaders failed to enrol enough members, the central leadership lowered the benchmark for booth presidents. Instead of 100 members, a target of 50 was set for them.

At a meeting with district leaders, BJP national general secretary in charge of Bengal, Odisha and Telangana Sunil Bansal expressed "extreme dissatisfaction" with the performance in districts like Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Jhargram, East Midnapore and West Midnapore where the number of new members didn't cross 25,000.

"East Midnapore is considered the backyard of our leader Suvendu Adhikari. Even then, we have not done well in that district. While one lakh people joined the BJP in a few districts, East Midnapore represented by one of our tallest leaders is far behind. This has exposed the plight of the organisation in the state," a BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity.

According to BJP sources, there are only five organisational districts — Nadia North, Nadia South, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur — that have been successful in crossing one lakh mark.

Although the central leadership has already started sidelining district and state functionaries who failed to meet their targets, top state leaders said the TMC played a significant role in discouraging voters from joining the BJP.

“The situation is such that we have asked our workers not to go in groups so that voters we target aren't exposed to threats from the ruling party. We have asked our workers to go alone and enrol members,” BJP MLA from Asansol South Agnimitra Paul said.

Asked about the allegation, senior Trinamool leader Arup Chakraborty said: “After the recent Assembly bypolls, it’s evident that the BJP is a sinking ship with no future. People are deliberately distancing themselves from the party. With nothing else to fall back on, they are blaming the TMC (for their failure to reach the membership target).”