Politics-Shah to launch BJP membership drive with enrollment of tribal

BJP president Amit Shah, who is set to launch the party's membership drive in Telangana on July 6, would enroll a tribal family near here before the formal unveiling of the program, state unit chief K Laxman said here Thursday. After arriving here in the afternoon, Shah will go to Mamidipalli village and induct the tribal family as BJP members before formally launching the membership drive at a function hall in Shamshabad here, he told reporters.

Shah, also the Union Home Minister, would later meet BJPs key leaders in the state on strengthening the party, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the membership drive in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on July 6, the birth anniversary of party ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee, while other leaders will undertake the exercise in other parts of the country.

Shah's decision to launch the membership drive in Telangana was a clear signal that the party's national leadership was keen to see BJP coming to power in the state in the 2023 assembly elections, Laxman said. BJP plans to add 12 lakh members to the existing 18 lakh in Telangana, he said.

The state leader hit out at the TRS for allegedly not implementing Central schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat health scheme.