BJP to train lakhs of new members

After becoming the world's largest political party, the BJP announced on Friday that it will train all its new members while further speeding up its nationwide membership drive.

Terming the feat a "huge" success, party leader Prakash Javadekar said at the national executive here that "BJP has become the biggest party in the world with 9.25 crore members... We will cross the 10 crore mark soon."

He said over 15 lakh members who came into the party fold recently would receive training, "enabling them to become active party workers".

Attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and party patriarch L.K. Advani among others, the two-day meet seeks to focus on strengthening the party in states where it has little presence.

Javadekar told the media that the party president lauded the hard work of the front-line workers who made 2014 -- when the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Lok Sabha polls -- a "successful" year.

"In our August 9 national executive last year, we met as the first non-Congress party that was voted to with an absolute majority at the centre since independence."

"We have our governments in 12 states, including eight states where we are in power on our own and four in alliance with our partners," he said.