Bhopal: In Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, a driver from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly assaulted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers after he refused to participate in their membership drive.
According to Chhatarpur Police, on 16 September, a group of unidentified men approached Manvendra Singh Yadav—who had driven some National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials to the state—while he was at a tea stall near the Deogarh toll. In his complaint, Yadav said that the men urged him to join the BJP and asked for his phone number to register him as a member. When he refused, they became aggressive, beat him up, threw his phone away, and fled the scene.
Speaking to ThePrint, Inspector-in-Charge of Bamitha police station Mohar Singh said, “We have registered an FIR against unidentified people and are looking for CCTV footage to identify the miscreants based on the complaint of the driver.”
This is just one of many alleged instances in the state where individuals have been coerced into joining the BJP or fraudulently registered as members.
On 1 September, the BJP launched a national membership campaign, wherein every state was given targets to enrol a certain percentage of its population as party members. The BJP unit in Madhya Pradesh—where the party secured 2.14 crore votes in the last Lok Sabha elections—was given the target of enrolling 1.5 crore members.
The drive was launched in phases, with all BJP workers—from booth workers to state party president V.D. Sharma—assigned the task of adding new members. While the campaign was a digital one, BJP workers were instructed to have prospective members give a missed call to register, to be followed by the completion of a form with the necessary details to finalise their membership.
However, reports indicate that party workers have been threatening and pressuring individuals to join the party or registering them through deceptive means.
In the state’s Guna district, two such cases were reported.
On 13 September, At the Government Polytechnic College in Raghogarh, Guna, two individuals allegedly approached students after an AIDS awareness workshop organised by the state at the college, asking them to give a missed call to a specific number for more information on AIDS.
Speaking to ThePrint, K.R. Dheriya, principal of the polytechnic, confirmed the incident. “We received complaints from students that after they gave a missed calls to the provided number, they received messages saying they had been added as members of the BJP. Unfortunately, the two individuals had escaped before we could apprehend them.”
In another incident in Guna, the owner of a mobile shop announced on social media that customers could purchase stickers for their mobile phones—typically priced at Rs 40—between 20 and 30 September for just Rs 1 if they joined the BJP. The shop owner, Vivek Sharma, was accused of promoting this offer on behalf of local BJP leaders, who were allegedly covering the remaining Rs 39 for each sticker.
When ThePrint reached Sharma, he denied acting at the behest of any local BJP leader, insisting it was his own initiative. “I managed to get 1,000 to 1,500 people registered as BJP members, but they were not added to the account of a single BJP leader. Instead, these members were added to the accounts of six or seven local BJP leaders,” Sharma said.
Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, a senior BJP leader acknowledged that, during large-scale mobilisation of party workers, it is possible that some unfortunate tactics might have been adopted, but added that it would be incorrect to label the entire membership drive as problematic.
“If there are 1.16 crore missed calls received and members registered, at least 1.04 crore go on to fill their online forms. In the second phase, which started on 1 October, the focus will be on people from different classes and castes—from professionals such as doctors and lawyers, to those from the tribal or Dalit communities,” the leader said.
‘BJP only interested in bolstering numbers’
In Chhindwara’s Pandhurna district, an audio recording surfaced, in which a supervisor of anganwadi workers urged her team to bring at least 10 women each who are beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna Yojana along with their cell phones, for an event at the district’s Laxmi Bhawan. The supervisor allegedly warned that failing to bring in these beneficiaries for the event on 18 September could lead to serious repercussions from local BJP representatives.
Speaking to ThePrint, Jayant Ghode, city in-charge of Pandhurna for the Congress, said: “When the women arrived, they discovered there was no programme. Instead, a group of women was helping others download the BJP’s app and enrol them as members. Upset that they had to travel to the city’s main market from their villages for a membership drive, the women began leaving the venue. Soon after, our Congress leaders from its women’s wing reached the spot and started recording video statements of all with their complaints on being brought there and reported them to the collector, but no action was taken for a week. After we met the collector again, he assured us that action would be taken.”
The Congress has accused the BJP of neglecting issues that matter to the public and said the ruling party is only focused on bolstering its numbers in the state.
Through its official X handle, the Congress has also criticised the BJP’s membership drive on social media.
भाजपा की सदस्यता नहीं लोगे तो लाड़ली बहना योजना की किस्त नहीं मिलेगी !!
मध्यप्रदेश के खंडवा में महिलाओं को ई केवाईसी के नाम पर बुलाकर, हितग्राही योजना के लाभ का डर दिखाकर भाजपा का सदस्य बनाया गया।
• पूरे प्रदेश में भाजपा ने इसी तरह की झांसे बाजी से सदस्यता के अपने आंकड़े मजबूत… pic.twitter.com/10iUL3EGYy
— MP Congress (@INCMP) September 30, 2024
However, speaking to ThePrint, BJP’s state president V.D. Sharma said, “These allegations are incorrect, instigated and manufactured by the Congress.”
Opposition from ABVP
The membership drive in Madhya Pradesh has also faced resistance from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who opposed polarisation of campus and urged that educational institutes remain a place of learning and not a wrestling ground for national politics.
ABVP members reportedly staged protests and demonstrations against the initiative at Government Holkar Science College in Indore and Shri Raghvendra Singh Hazari Government Degree College in Damoh district.
In Indore, on 24 September, despite attempts by local MLA Golu Shukla to persuade the ABVP students, they remained steadfast in their opposition. As a result, college principal Suresh T. Silawat reportedly issued a letter stating that no political events would occur on campus without ABVP’s permission.
Similarly, in Damoh, on 29 September, students affiliated with the ABVP opposed BJP MLA Uma Devi Khatik when she visited the college with her son, allegedly to encourage students to join the BJP. The students protested, forcing Khatik to leave, and ultimately closed the college gates, which remained shut until police arrived on campus. Following the incident, Khatik denied that her visit was related to the membership drive, claiming it was merely a routine visit.
“We understand that there is a certain unwritten rule and understanding that activities in campuses are undertaken by the ABVP,” V.D. Sharma said to ThePrint. “We are looking into it.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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