BJP targeting to rope in 20 million primary members in Gujarat: CR Paatil

The Bharatiya Janata Party aims to enrol 2 crore primary members in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a senior leader said on Tuesday.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president CR Paatil renewed their party membership at an event in Ahmedabad as part of the party's nationwide membership drive.

The Gujarat BJP unit launched an enrollment drive, a day after PM Modi asked BJP members in Delhi to expand the party during the membership program in a way that a maximum number of its women candidates are elected to Lok Sabha and assemblies when 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures comes into force.

 

Paatil, also the union Jal Shakti minister, stressed that the Central leadership had not set any specific target for Gujarat. "However, the state unit will aim to enrol at least 2 crore members and secure top position among other states".

Paatil suggested enrolling women and those workers of the BJP who have not renewed their primary memberships.

"The BJP is the only party where you must renew your primary membership every six years. It applies to everyone, irrespective of the position they are holding. This is necessary to avoid stagnancy. Though the Central leadership has not set any target for us, we will try to enrol 2 crore members during this drive in Gujarat. This will be our target," Paatil told the gathering.

Prominent BJP leaders from Gujarat, including former chief minister Vijay Rupani, ex-deputy CM Nitin Patel, MPs, MLAs, and several former and incumbent ministers attended the event and renewed their membership.

Paatil said the 2-crore enrolment target is achievable given that nearly 1.19 crore members were registered with BJP in the previous drive six years ago. He said BJP received 1.88 crore votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"We must ensure Gujarat becomes a number one unit in terms of membership. To achieve this target, you need to enrol those who were with us earlier but didn't renew their memberships for some reason. We can enrol women as party workers during this drive," said Paatil.

He acknowledged that the BJP's performance in Lok Sabha elections caused "despair".

"Our tally went down maybe because of some mistakes committed by us. In Gujarat, I accept responsibility for the loss of one seat (Banaskantha). But, we need to emerge out of this atmosphere of despair. A strong organisation is necessary for winning elections," he said.

CM Patel exhorted BJP workers to work unitedly to make India the number one country.

"BJP is the only party where a common party worker can become the country's PM. For us, the country always comes first. We all need to work to make our country number one," said Patel.

Notably, the BJP retained power with a huge mandate by securing 156 seats (out of 182) in the Gujarat assembly elections in 2022.