The enrolment drives currently being conducted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to enlist more members present a sharp study in contrast, reflecting the state of affairs in each parties. One is a tale of innovation, the other of stagnation.
Riding high on its recent electoral victories, an upbeat BJP launched a membership drive with great fanfare on November 1, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi using digital technology to enrol himself as the first member by dialling a toll-free number.
The membership drive, which is to continue till March 31, will use several methods to reach out to different sections of society across the country to dispel the perception that the BJP’s support base does not extend beyond the Hindi heartland.
The exhaustive membership campaign will be conducted in universities, markets and village haats. Massive advertisements inviting new members have been published in newspapers. Anybody wanting to enrol as a BJP member can give a missed call to a toll-free number or download the application form from the party’s website. As BJP president Amit Shah declared, the aim is to increase its membership by three times from its present 3.5 crores.
Set in its ways
On the other hand, the Congress enrolment drive, which started in August, is the best-kept secret in town. The party has failed to draw any lessons from its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and subsequent assembly polls. There are periodic news reports about its membership drive in the press, but nothing more is heard subsequently.
Unlike the BJP, the Congress is reluctant to shed its old ways and embrace new technology to connect with potential members. If anything, there is strong resistance to change.
For instance, Mullapalli Ramchandran, chairman of the Congress party’s Central Election Authority, was quoted as saying that, unlike the BJP, the Congress could not give membership on the basis of a missed call as it wanted to enrol people who are committed to the party ideology.
“No wonder we are called the Grand Old Party, we are living in a time warp,” a despairing Congress leader told Scroll.in, adding that another senior leader even went to the extent of saying such a membership drive could be used to “infiltrate” the party ranks.
Applications locked
Frustrated younger Congress leaders pointed out that while the BJP has adopted an open, transparent system to enrol members, “our campaign continues to be opaque”.
To begin with, he said, it is difficult for a Congress worker to get the application forms since these are kept in the safe custody of the president of the party’s state unit. “Even when a worker does manage to enrol new members after getting the forms, there is every possibility he will not hear about them again,” he added.
The Congress membership drive is to conclude by December 31, after which elections will be conducted from the block level upwards, culminating with the election of the party president next July.
Party insiders said an effort has been made this time to eliminate bogus membership by introducing several safeguards, including photo identity cards, but the system is still far from transparent. “Today, anybody who wants to join the Congress will not know how to go about it,” said another party leader.
Motivated workers
Modi, on the other hand, wants BJP’s “democratic exercise to reach all sections of society” to become a subject of research across the world.
The disparity in the BJP and Congress approaches reflects the state of the two parties. After posting impressive victories in the general and the assembly elections and with Modi’s continuing rise in popularity, the BJP is oozing with confidence. This shows in the aggressive membership drive launched by its energised workers.
As a relatively young entrant in politics, the BJP is not held back by party traditions and is ready to accept new ideas and technology.
The Congress, in contrast, is yet to recover from its rout in the elections. The party rank and file remains demoralised while its leaders make zero effort to lift the spirit of its workers.
The Congress remains hostage to its 129-year-old history. The party finds it difficult to break away from the past. Its vocabulary and mind-set has not transformed as it refuses to evolve and adapt to the changing times. The Grand Old Party desperately needs an infusion of new ideas if it is to compete with the BJP, which has grabbed its place as the country’s pre-eminent national party.
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Riding high on its recent electoral victories, an upbeat BJP launched a membership drive with great fanfare on November 1, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi using digital technology to enrol himself as the first member by dialling a toll-free number.
The membership drive, which is to continue till March 31, will use several methods to reach out to different sections of society across the country to dispel the perception that the BJP’s support base does not extend beyond the Hindi heartland.
The exhaustive membership campaign will be conducted in universities, markets and village haats. Massive advertisements inviting new members have been published in newspapers. Anybody wanting to enrol as a BJP member can give a missed call to a toll-free number or download the application form from the party’s website. As BJP president Amit Shah declared, the aim is to increase its membership by three times from its present 3.5 crores.
Set in its ways
On the other hand, the Congress enrolment drive, which started in August, is the best-kept secret in town. The party has failed to draw any lessons from its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and subsequent assembly polls. There are periodic news reports about its membership drive in the press, but nothing more is heard subsequently.
Unlike the BJP, the Congress is reluctant to shed its old ways and embrace new technology to connect with potential members. If anything, there is strong resistance to change.
For instance, Mullapalli Ramchandran, chairman of the Congress party’s Central Election Authority, was quoted as saying that, unlike the BJP, the Congress could not give membership on the basis of a missed call as it wanted to enrol people who are committed to the party ideology.
“No wonder we are called the Grand Old Party, we are living in a time warp,” a despairing Congress leader told Scroll.in, adding that another senior leader even went to the extent of saying such a membership drive could be used to “infiltrate” the party ranks.
Applications locked
Frustrated younger Congress leaders pointed out that while the BJP has adopted an open, transparent system to enrol members, “our campaign continues to be opaque”.
To begin with, he said, it is difficult for a Congress worker to get the application forms since these are kept in the safe custody of the president of the party’s state unit. “Even when a worker does manage to enrol new members after getting the forms, there is every possibility he will not hear about them again,” he added.
The Congress membership drive is to conclude by December 31, after which elections will be conducted from the block level upwards, culminating with the election of the party president next July.
Party insiders said an effort has been made this time to eliminate bogus membership by introducing several safeguards, including photo identity cards, but the system is still far from transparent. “Today, anybody who wants to join the Congress will not know how to go about it,” said another party leader.
Motivated workers
Modi, on the other hand, wants BJP’s “democratic exercise to reach all sections of society” to become a subject of research across the world.
The disparity in the BJP and Congress approaches reflects the state of the two parties. After posting impressive victories in the general and the assembly elections and with Modi’s continuing rise in popularity, the BJP is oozing with confidence. This shows in the aggressive membership drive launched by its energised workers.
As a relatively young entrant in politics, the BJP is not held back by party traditions and is ready to accept new ideas and technology.
The Congress, in contrast, is yet to recover from its rout in the elections. The party rank and file remains demoralised while its leaders make zero effort to lift the spirit of its workers.
The Congress remains hostage to its 129-year-old history. The party finds it difficult to break away from the past. Its vocabulary and mind-set has not transformed as it refuses to evolve and adapt to the changing times. The Grand Old Party desperately needs an infusion of new ideas if it is to compete with the BJP, which has grabbed its place as the country’s pre-eminent national party.
