Bharatiya Janata Party National General Secretary P. Muralidhar Rao on Wednesday asked party leaders and cadres to take the issue of membership very seriously, with the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in mind.
At a working committee meeting of the party's GHMC unit, the third in a series of such deliberations, he wanted them to understand the significance of fighting the elections in a place like Hyderabad that was considered hub of communal politics.
Mr. Rao criticised successive Governments for playing a politics of minority appeasement by directly or indirectly supporting the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. He wanted the audience to remember that the GHMC elections were not just a matter of politics but one with which they would be strengthening India against anti-national forces. “Membership is the solution of all problems and so it is a struggle against the anti-nationals,” he pointed out.
Mr. Rao said that once membership was taken seriously, the leadership needed to get right down to the polling booth-level. “Keep the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the trust that the party enjoys in the minds of people. You should have a 'Modi' in every booth,” he urged.
Union Minister of State for Labour B. Dattatrerya said that the political strategy to take the membership to the next level needed to be chalked out without loss of time. This was all the more required, considering that winds of change were sweeping the country and the political environment was heavily in favour of the BJP, he contended.
“Membership drive should be with transparency and accountability. We should leverage the development agenda of the party leadership and of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our competitition is the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen,” he said, adding that there was an urgent need to bring pressure on the TRS Government on issues of public interest.
Among others who spoke at the day-long session were MLA and State President G. Kishan Reddy and MLA C. Ramachandra Reddy.
