Amit Shah’s estimation of his party strength has varied, from 9 crore members to 8 crore. This, after a 2015 declaration of 11-crore party members.
New Delhi: At least two to three crore members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have gone missing. Or so it seems from party president Amit Shah’s speeches at the national executive meetings on 8 and 9 September.
Speaking on Saturday, Shah said there were 8 crore BJP members but he changed it to 9 crore in his speech the following day, while emphasising on the need to reach out to 22 crore families ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
In March 2015, the BJP had claimed that it had become the largest party in the world by enrolling 8.8 crore members, leaving behind the Communist Party of China.
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In July that year, Shah said that 11 crore members of the party would be made partners in nation-building.
Early this month, BJP Mahila Morcha president Vijaya Rahatkar was quoted as saying that of 12 crore members of the BJP, 3 crore were women.
In April, party leader Ali Mohammad Mir had said in Srinagar that the BJP was the world’s largest party with over 14 crore members.
So, what’s the exact strength of the ruling party of India?
A BJP spokesman said the total number of members enrolled was 11 crore, of whom 2 crore have “not been verified” yet. He attributed Shah’s initial figure of 8 crore to “a slip of the tongue”.
Confusion over numbers
There is obviously confusion in the BJP about its exact strength as party leaders, including Shah, keep quoting different numbers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched an online membership drive in November 2014 by dialling a mobile number to become the first member.
The subsequent months witnessed more celebrations in the ruling party as it went on to become the largest party in the world.
Shah wears it as a feather in his cap as he keeps repeating the enrolment numbers on different fora.
While electoral victories have been attributed to Modi’s charismatic appeal, Shah has earned kudos for strengthening the organisation and turning it into a ‘fighting machine’.
More confusing signs
It was not just the membership numbers that got the BJP’s national executive members confused.
On Saturday, as many delegates kept talking about Kerala flood relief work, Shah was learnt to have intervened and said the BJP was “not an NGO” that everyone should harp on just one issue.
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Delegates should move on to other subjects also, confided a leader present at the meeting. On Sunday, though, the Prime Minister told the delegates that they should focus more on “social service” to reach out to the people.
Prof PK Sharma, Freelance Journalist,Barnala (Punjab)
The worth and popularity of any political outfit cannot only be tested and gauged on the basis of numbers count alone !
There are a number of factors which determine the meaning as well as the relevance of any political party or organisation anywhere in the world !
In this context, a political organization should be a blending of both quality and quantity but more of quality ! Then credibility,vision,
ideology, objectivity, morality , sociability, and adherence to truth and values are the ornaments that go a long way in the making of
an organisation !
So far as the track record of BJP is concerned, the party has not a long history to its credit (almost three decades old). It has been striving all these years to be in the forefront !
The party has been in the lime light, known in the political circles as a cadre and disciplined party ! Then party following the agenda of
Hindutva vehemently has a permanent communal tag attached with its name ! Now new definition of cadre and discipline in BJP only implies NaMo and Amit Shah ! They are indeed now the ” be end ” and ” be all” of BJP !
The year 2014 saw the party soaring quite high in form of Lok Sabha Polls “unexpected success” ! Riding on a wave for change and negative vote factor, BJP led by NaMo secured 282 seats in the battle of ballot box then !
For want of vision, foresight, objectivity, collective wisdom, credibility, truth, broad-minded outlook and democratic spirit BJP
very badly and miserably frittered away “the golden opportunity” that came its way by chance to shape the destiny of the nation !
The powerful duo of NaMo- Amit Shah instead of concentrating on delivering the goods, honouring the poll promises and offering
good- different governance it accorded top priority to expanding party and personal base by winning assembly polls in non-BJP ruled states.
The duo sacrificed national interests at the altar of personal ambitions, whims, impulses and BJP’s expansion overlooking the “nation above everything” spirit. Consequently, they succeeded in making BJP the largest party of the world in terms of numbers as claimed by Amit Shah at the cost of India that is BHARAT ! In the bargain, BJP grew but nation had to face the music and shrink !
Now almost more than four years at the steering of the government and party, the duo has failed to generate employment, remove poverty, credit Rs 15 lakh in every one’s bank account, bring back black money stashed in foreign banks, double farmers’ income, boost up economy, offer affordable quality education, offer affordable health care system, improve relations with neighboring nations, shape sound foreign policy, arrest communal tensions and overcome insurgency- trans border terrorism etc.
Their top most priority to cling to power and win polls everywhere in the nation for pretty long resulted in poor and malgovernance !
Their failure to address the burning and sensitive issues and offer amicable solutions by redressing the grievances of the people did dash masses’ hopes to the ground .
The duo taking the things for granted tried to thrive on ploys, rhetorics, whims, lies and fallacious promises but now stand very thoroughly exposed ! The demonetisation disaster, foreign policy in tatters, ill planned and ill executed GST are a few examples
of the hopeless manner in which the duo have governed the nation !
All in all, it remains a fact that BJP may have swelt quantitatively but qualitatively it has shrunk reaching the lowest ebb !
The nation is now in for a new, innovative, fair, free, fearless, advanced and inclusive narrative haunting the minds of the voters who are determined to translate it into actuality by discarding the authoritarian and megalomanic rule of the day !
Prof PK Sharma, Freelance Journalist
Pom Anm Nest, Barnala(Punjab)
No figure quoted by modi shah can be relied upon to be true – their fake and exaggerated claims are designed to mislead people – even if they succeed in fooling some , they think they’ve made progress ! Bluffmasters !!!
BJP always cultivated habit of making not only false claims but deliberately keep the people confusing with numbers. One thing is crystal clear their numbers in turns of donations has crossed all the limits
We know that BJP cannot count. I have seen those charts which show 72 is lower than 56. It is damn joke. They don’t demonstrate even basic sense and honestly they are insulting every Indian’s intelligence when they put out charts like that. We will also become a laughing stock for rest of the world, if silly charts like this are put out and the anchors on TV channel defend them.