BJP membership swells by 3.8 crores after abrogation of Article 370

Modi government's decision to remove Article 370 after coming back to power in the Center had a tremendous impact on the Bharatiya Janata Party's membership campaign. This year, the party's membership drive has shattered all previous records.

Around 3.8 crore new members joined BJP during the membership drive held between July 6 to August 20. However, the numbers are yet to announced officially. A formal announcement is likely after the numbers verified by the party's IT branch.

Maximum joinings were recorded in Uttar Pradesh, where the party's membership in the state went up to 1.8 crores. The state BJP had a total of 1.13 crore members in 2015 and had a target of increasing membership by 20 per cent or 22.6 lakh. But the membership drive broke all records, with 55 lakh new members joining this year.

In Delhi, where assembly elections are scheduled to be held in a few months, 15 lakh new members joined BJP.

The party holds its membership drive every six years and has a target of increasing members by 20 per cent.

In Jammu and Kashmir too, the party witnessed good success with 3.5 lakh 50 new members joining BJP, as opposed to the original target of 1 lakh. However, the party believes that the membership drive was affected due to the interruption in internet services in the state following the abrogation of Section 370. This campaign has now been extended to August 25 in the state and party estimated 12 lakh members joining its folds. 

A total of 7,14,784 people joined the BJP in Haryana, 4,62,804 in Himachal Pradesh, 5,5,422 in Punjab, 10 lakh in Uttarakhand, 33.73 lakh in Gujarat, 16.90 lakh in Karnataka, 19.97 lakh in Maharashtra, 20.87 lakh in Rajasthan, 24.53 lakh in Madhya Pradesh.