TRS enrols 40 lakh members so far in membership drive

The ruling TRS in Telangana has enrolled about 40 lakh members as part of its membership campaign launched last month, the party said here on Friday.

The party has completed digitalization of details of 20 lakh members (out of the 40 lakh), a TRS release quoted working president K T Rama Rao as having said during a meeting with leaders on the campaign.

The in-charges for membership drive informed Rao that the process was likely to conclude by the end of this month, it said.

The party had initially planned to enrol 60 lakh members, with 50,000 enlisted in each assembly constituency (total number of assembly segments is 119), as part of the drive launched on June 27.

Rao, son of party president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, asked the in-charges to take up formation of party committees in places where membership enrolment came to a close as per targets, it said.

Rama Rao expressed satisfaction over the response to the membership drive in urban areas as municipal elections would be held soon, it said.

TRS MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said after the meeting that lakhs of people enrolled themselves as members by paying the fee.

"Membership fee of close to Rs 15 crore reached our office...KTR (Rama Rao) directed that arrangements be made to pay insurance from first of August to those who joined now," he told reporters.

TRS had returned to power in the Assembly polls held in December last with a massive majority, winning 88 of the total of 119 seats.

Though the party expected to bag at least 13-14 of the total of 17 seats in Lok Sabha polls, it won nine.

The loss of sitting MP and Chief Minister Raos daughter K Kavitha came as a setback to the party.

TRS, however, put a spectacular show in the subsequent rural local body polls, winning all Zilla Parishads in the state.