BJP in Goa targets 4 lakh people for membership

The BJP in Goa has targeted four lakh people -- a little less than one third of the state's population -- as a target for its membership drive which is due to start from July 6, party state General Secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference at the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters, Tanavade said the party would focus on booths where it has traditionally received less votes in elections held over the years.

"We have set a target for four lakh members across the state for our party's primary membership. Earlier members had to pay Rs 5 as a fee, this time we have waived off the fee and membership will be free," Tanavade said.

The party's primary membership drive is held across the country every five years.

With the state's population pegged at 1.5 million and with a target of four lakh, the BJP aims at converting a shade less than a third of Goa's population into its primary member-base.

Tanavade also said that targets have been identified for each constituency but stress would be laid in booths where the party has received less votes.

"There is not a single polling booth in Goa out of the 1,652 where the BJP has not received a vote. But there are booths where we have not received votes as expected, so we will be targeting those booths during the membership drive from July 6 to August 11," he said.

The Chief Minister's constituency of Sanquelim has the highest target.

From Thursday, the BJP aims to start workshops for its key workers participating in the drive, in a bid to help them achieve the targets.