BJP now a 40 lakh-strong force in Assam

GUWAHATI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recorded 40 lakh members in the state on Wednesday, the highest the party has seen since its inception in Assam, state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said.
According to Dass, the membership drive that was launched on June 23 witnessed over 11 lakh people join the saffron camp. "On Wednesday, our membership drive recorded 11,0, 9000 new members.Earlier, we had 29 lakh members. So with our new members, today we are more than a 40 lakh-member party in the state," Das said adding, "Our target till August was 11 lakh but we have already crossed that mark. The drive did take a hit because of the floods but we are confident that we will have over 15 lakh new members by August-end."
Among the new members are also around 200 research scholars from Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University and Assam University. As the drive was conducted both online and offline, the party could get a lot of people within a short amount of time. After Gautam Roy had joined the party, many from the saffron camp had put forward their objections. Clearing the air, Dass said, "People may have shortcomings. That does not mean BJP will shut its doors if they want to join the party. BJP is a party where people can reform themselves."
Recently, many prominent Congress leaders in Assam have quit the party to join the saffron camp. The exodus was triggered by Sanjay Singh , the Amethi royal and Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, who resigned to join the BJP last month. Last week too, Bhubaneswar Kalita, the party's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, also joined the saffron party. This was followed by the resignation of Rajendra Prasad Singh, another tea tribe leader and former MLA from Tinsukia, who had long been associated with the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha, the largest body of tea workers in Assam. Another prominent Congress party leader from the Barak Valley and former minister Gautam Roy. Roy, Santiuse Kujur and another congress leader Hiranya Bhuyan joined the BJP on Sunday.
Speaking about the success of the drive, Dass explained, "We could achieve such a large number of new members within a short time.
This shows that people are confident about us. Some of the strong measures taken against corruption have helped bolste people's confidence in the government."