Lucknow/Amethi/Raebareli: Off national highway 731 in Amethi’s Jagdishpur, a team of BJP workers led by Nakshed Dubey, the party’s mandal prabhari (divisional in-charge) in Vishwakarma Nagar, was trying to convince people to become BJP members.

Among other locals, Ishtiyaq Ahmed, a 60-year-old man who has known the mandal prabhari since childhood, was persuaded to join the BJP. When Ahmed enquired about benefits members could get, the BJP workers smiled and told him they needed to complete their target. Ahmed said he supported the Congress and would continue to do so, but he had no issue helping them meet their target. He provided them with an OTP to complete the process.

These are not isolated cases.

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP ministers and high-level functionaries are jumping through hoops to bring new members into the party fold and achieve the targets set for them by the state leadership. But, the rules of referral code and OTP sharing, which the BJP has introduced in its membership drive, and waning enthusiasm for the party are turning out to be roadblocks.

The first phase of the BJP membership drive ran from 3-25 September, and the second phase began on 1 October. BJP MPs, MLAs, mayors, district and block Panchayat chiefs, among others, are required to reach their targets by 15 October.

Under the new system, BJP leaders and workers who are part of the drive have a referral code, which has to be noted in membership forms, along with the OTP received on the mobile number of a person who joins as a new BJP member.

The system eliminates any possibility of spiked membership numbers but makes it difficult to get people to join. Many do not want to share OTPs due to the risk of fraud, BJP functionaries told ThePrint.

Some BJP leaders have formed teams to reach out to more people and persuade them to join the party on their respective referral codes, but it has still not been going well.

”We can not fulfil our targets because of the OTP and referral code process. People are not sharing OTP because of trust issues. If they do not know you personally, they will not share OTPs since they suspect it may be for bank fraud. I have deputed two teams on the ground, but they have been facing these issues,” one senior MLA told ThePrint. “People are also not showing much enthusiasm because it is time-consuming — sharing OTP and getting a photo clicked, apart from the time taken for convincing someone.”

Many heavyweight leaders have hired private agencies that make people join the BJP on the leaders’ referral code. These agencies earn Rs 30 to 40 for every person who joins.

One BJP MLA from Central UP told ThePrint that at least four of his colleagues hired a Noida-based social media agency, which charges Rs 30 for every member added.

“People were more comfortable in the ‘missed call’ campaign. This OTP issue is tricky, so it’s better to activate our teams or give the work to some firm,” the BJP MLA said. “How would I reach every house and ask for OTPs? If someone is uncomfortable sharing an OTP, we lose a member.”

One leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in Raebareli told ThePrint, “After the Lok Sabha debacle on so many seats in the Awadh belt, the enthusiasm is waning not only among the party cadre but also supporters. Many workers think outsiders may get tickets before polls, but the party relies on the cadre for membership campaigns because why would outsiders show much interest in the party’s abhiyans?”

The manager of a Noida-based social media firm employed by BJP leaders told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity, ”Teams of some MPs and MLAs from UP have approached us. We are helping some of them. We have district teams, which have a database of local contacts. Our people call and cite the local MPs and MLAs as their reference and ask for OTP.  We charge the party Rs 40 per new member because it takes a lot of time to convince people to give OTPs.”

Moreover, ThePrint has learnt that to meet their targets, many BJP leaders are making contractual employees with the municipal corporation, and the electricity and health departments fill in the membership forms in bulk on the leaders’ referral codes.

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BJP membership drive hinges on govt schemes

In the Harchandpur block of Raebareli district, BJYM workers Sandeep Singh and Harshit Singh tried to convince people to become party members on the promise of welfare.

When they approached Tarawati, a 58-year-old woman, she asked whether her children could get a house under PM Awas Yojana. Sandeep Singh promised to help her personally if she shared her OTP.

In the same block, Ram Milan Lodhi, a 42-year-old man, shared that he has eight family members, including his five children, but still has not got a house under any scheme. He said he was ready to become a BJP member but asked why the party was not helping him to get a house. The BJYM workers promised to help him as well.

During the membership drive in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area, led by BJYM state president Vikas Srivastava, the BJYM team asked labourers to become party members on the promise of benefits of government schemes.

However, 35-year-old cab driver Mukesh Saini refused to join, saying he is no longer a BJP supporter since the party has not fulfilled its promises. The BJYM team tried to change his mind, but he would not give his contact number.

Later, Srivastava and his team members told ThePrint that sometimes, it takes time to convince such people, but “we are trying hard with those who do not align with our ideology”. “We tell them about the government schemes to woo them.”

Scrutiny of top BJP functionaries underway

Many MPs, MLAs and councillors could not achieve their targets in the first phase of the BJP membership drive — an issue that came up for discussion in a review meeting on 30 September at the BJP state headquarters in Lucknow.

At the meeting, BJP state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh presented a report card, showing that more than a dozen MLAs have failed to get 500 new members while 35 MLAs are yet to add 5,000 members. Two MPs have added just over 500 members, while five have enlisted fewer than 1,000.

The party claimed to have added 1.7 crore members against its target of two crore over two phases but its decision to scrutinise top functionaries to see what is going wrong reveals that everything is not going well.

A senior functionary who was present in the meeting told ThePrint, ”Several assembly constituencies still lack even 10,000 members, and many booths have failed to reach the goal of enrolling 200 members. We have received complaints from some districts that many senior leaders are not taking the campaign seriously and hiring agencies, so we have decided to do a scrutiny.”

“We have deputed a team in every district to monitor the fairness of the drive. A team at state headquarters will dial a few numbers from the list provided by leaders with targets to check whether the leaders or some agency enlisted the new members,” the functionary added.

However, dismissing concerns over the membership drive, BJP state chief Bhupendra Chaudhary told ThePrint, “We have not heard about any forgery in ‘sadasyata abhiyan’. If there are any complaints about an MLA hiring an agency, we will look into it. We heard of the earlier complaints on OTP issues, but our workers are dedicated. They know how to convince people.”

He also claimed, “We have added 1.93 crore members so far — fairly close to our target. We aimed to add 50,000 members from each of the Vidhan Sabha seats. A few districts in the West and the East are behind their respective targets, but by 15 October, we hope to achieve those targets.”

The Congress, however, is taking digs at the BJP membership campaign.

“The BJP has a habit of fooling people. Earlier, it had ‘missed call abhiyan’ and now OTP, but why is it trying to woo people in the name of welfare schemes? It’s a party membership abhiyan, not a government scheme registration campaign. In reality, no one wants to become a member. So, the party is resorting to forgery,” Anshu Awasthi, a UP Congress spokesperson, said.

Terming the Opposition’s attacks as politically motivated, BJP MLA from Lucknow North Neeraj Vohra expressed confidence that the party would achieve its membership target by 15 October. “I have completed my target, nearly 80%. Wherever I am going, I open my phone and get members. I can not comment on any other constituency, but the membership drive in my constituency has been smooth. I will complete my target soon.”

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)

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