BJP's 'very successful' membership drive: 3.78 cr new members against target of 2.2 cr

The BJP has enrolled 3.78 crore new members during its membership drive that ended on Tuesday, bringing almost 1.6 crore more people under its fold than the target.

Dushyant Kumar Gautam, a party vice president and co-convener of the membership drive, described the over one-and-a-half month long exercise as "very successful" and expressed confidence that the total number may get close to 5 crore when the party collects data from the across the country in the next few days.

The membership drive had started on July 6 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah launching it from Varanasi and Telangana respectively on the party ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee's birth anniversary.

The party claims to have 11 crore members and had fixed a target of adding 20 per cent more members, 2.2 crore, during the drive. The number of new members stand at 3,78,67,753 and will be revised upwards as more details are collected.

The saffron organisation is jubilant over the "massive" response to its drive but the extent of its success will be determined after the details of its new members are verified.

Official sources said of the 11 crore members -- an overwhelming number of whom through missed calls -- it had enrolled during its 2015 drive, details of almost half of could not be fully verified.

However, they added the party had this time put in more filters.

All giving a missed call had to furnish details like their name, address, area pin code and mobile/telephone number before they were added as members.

Gautam said Modi's popularity and Shah's organisational acumen had played a key role in attracting new members in such big numbers to the party's fold.

Among the states, Uttar Pradesh enrolled over 65 lakh members, West Bengal 36 lakhs, Gujarat 34 lakhs and Delhi 15 lakhs among others.

Though a majority of new members has joined the party through missed called but a large number has also taken to the party's website and Modi app to enrol.

With the membership drive over, the party will launch its organisation polls from September.

Elections of national council members will take place in December followed by the election of its national president.

With Shah now Union home minister, there is a view within the party that he may make way for a new party chief.