LUCKNOW (Web Desk) – On the appeal of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi three million Muslims have joined BJP’s recent membership drive, Times of India reported on Thursday.
Although the party’s national minority cell chief Abdul Rasheed Ansari said that the exact strength of Muslims in the party was never calculated earlier, it could be roughly said that it has almost doubled now. Membership figures made available to TOI by the minority cell indicate that states where BJP is in power have seen the maximum surge in Muslims joining the party. Around 4 lakh of them have joined in MP, followed by Gujarat (2.6 lakh), Delhi (2.5 lakh), West Bengal (2.3 lakh) Rajasthan and Assam (over 2 lakh each). UP BJP has also recorded around 1.75 lakh ‘missed calls’ from Muslims.
The first is to take this number from the present 3% (of the total 10 crore members) to 10% of the total strength. The other challenge would be to ensure that a majority of 30 lakh Muslims who have joined are converted into party workers through the mass contact programme that is going on.
“No doubt it is a big challenge,” Ansari said and added that every effort was being made to bridge the gap. Citing one strategy.
During a meeting with a delegation of Muslim community, Modi appealed to the community to judge him by his deeds of the past one year rather than relying on Opposition’s claims.
