TN BJP unit set for major infrastructure reforms

CHENNAI: Gearing up for the 2026 Assembly elections, the Tamil Nadu BJP unit is all set to go for major infrastructure reforms.

The saffron party, which is projecting itself as an alternative to the Dravidian majors, would soon strengthen its organisational structure, on par with the Dravidian majors. “While a target of 200 new members per booth has already been set, now it has been decided to increase the district units,” party insiders told DT Next.

“We have discussed increasing the number of district units from 66 to 78. Three Assembly Constituencies (ACs) come under one district unit. In each district, starting with the district president, other functionaries, leaders of wings, cells, and its functionaries can be allowed to serve the party. This move will further help strengthen the party’s organisational set-up,” a senior leader said, wishing not to be named.

Another senior leader also said that the party leadership had discussed increasing the number of district units.

“However, no decision has been taken yet. A committee of senior leaders will soon be constituted to study and make recommendations on how to restructure the number of district units and further strengthen the party’s organisational structure. The next course of action will depend on the committee’s recommendations,” the leader told this correspondent.

Apart from this, the ongoing membership drive would also play a pivotal role in the TN BJP functionaries’ future. “The membership drive which started on September 2, is going on very slowly. The existing workers, mandal and district in-charges are not showing enough interest in the membership drive. Even renewal of membership by existing members is seen as lagging. Therefore, our immediate priority is to resolve such issues and speed up the membership drive,” the leader added.

Elaborating on this, the leader said, “As the state president had gone to the United Kingdom, a coordination committee headed by H Raja was formed to manage the party’s activities. But in the zones where the members of the coordination committee are in-charges, the membership drive is very

slow. Due to few ideological challenges and the absence of charismatic leaders, youth and women do not come forward to join as new members. It is because of such practical problems that membership drives have not been sufficiently successful yet.”

“It is also being discussed to replace the functionaries who are not interested in the membership drive. The drive will be open till October 15,” the leader noted.

Notably, at the national level, the BJP has inducted 6 crore new members so far, while in TN, along with the renewal, only around 5 lakh new members have been inducted till date.