Kolkata, 3 January (H.S.): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal fell significantly short of its ambitious membership target, securing only 38 lakh members via missed calls instead of the one crore goal. Despite a last-minute push, the party could not even match its 2018 tally of 82 lakh members.On December 20, Bengal BJP leaders faced ctiticism from the central leadership for enrolling only 26.93 lakh members. In response, the party intensified efforts in the last 11 days of the campaign, but still failed to reach anywhere near the original target. Reports suggest that only 27 lakh of these are verified members, while the rest might be 'fabricated' figures.During a party meeting on December 20, the central observers had set 34 lakh as the minimum requirement, comparing it to passing marks in an exam. At that point, Bengal BJP had only 26 lakh members, meaning it was falling short of the 'pass mark'. By the end of December, they managed to surpass 34 lakh, ultimately reaching 38 lakh, but the original one-crore goal remained a distant dream.Comparison with 2018 FiguresIn 2018, the BJP had gathered 82 lakh missed-call members, nearly twice the current figure. Given this disappointing performance, the party is now shifting focus to the selection of active members, district presidents, and mandal chiefs.District-Wise PerformanceThe top-performing districts in membership included Nadia South, Dakshin Dinajpur (home district of BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar), Tamluk, Jalpaiguri, and Nadia North. Shuvendu Adhikari’s district, Kanthi, ranked sixth.Meanwhile, Darjeeling, Diamond Harbour, Jangipur, Basirhat, and Jaynagar ranked at the bottom in terms of new memberships.

Hindusthan Samachar / SP Singh