The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set itself the target of doubling the party’s primary membership from 1.8 million to 3.6 million in the coming days (please specify timeframe). The party also aims to replace the Congress and become an alternative for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the state.
The BJP, which had won only one assembly seat out of the 119 in Telangana in the December 2018 elections, has been re-energized after winning four Lok Sabha seats out of 17 in the 2019 general elections. The TRS, which had won 88 assembly seats in 2018 and had expected to win most of the parliamentary seats, got just nine. The Congress won three. The unexpected results have given a boost to the BJP, which aims to capitalize on the situation.
“The state leaders had set a target of getting 12 lakh (1.2 million) new members, but BJP president and Union home minister Amit Shah, who met them on Saturday after flagging off the membership drive in Telangana, said that we have to get an additional 18 lakh (1.8 million). It is a very encouraging atmosphere for the BJP in Telangana. Our party workers in the local polling booth committees will go house-to-house to campaign across the state for the membership drive," said a BJP leader, who did not want to be quote