BJP set to launch membership drive ahead of organisational polls

The BJP is set to launch a nationwide membership drive, which will be followed by election of its heads in states and Union Territories, before it elects its new national president, party sources said.

Organisational elections in the party were postponed last year due to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and are being set in motion now.

The party had asked its president Amit Shah, whose three-year term ended earlier this year, to continue so as to allow him and the organisation to focus on the general election.

The sources said the membership drive will be launched in most states, except those which are headed for assembly polls, and UTs, in the coming days.

This will be followed by reconstitution of organisation from booth-level onwards in states, they said.

New members of state councils will elect their respective state chiefs, and then members of national council will elect a new president, they said.

Most of the senior functionaries, including state heads and national president, are elected with a consensus.

The process for organisational elections in at least 50 per cent of states and UTs must be completed before a new national president is chosen, according to party rules.

It is not clear as to when the entire process will be completed, the sources said, adding that a time line for finishing the exercise is likely to be announced soon.

Shah, now the Union Home Minister, may make way for a new president. The BJP though has not made any official comment on the matter.

The saffron party returned to power with a majority for a second time in a row by bagging 303 seats in the 542-member Lok Sabha. The Election Commission had cancelled the election to Vellore seat in Tamil Nadu, apprehending use of money power to influence the poll outcome.