The BJP State unit, which formally opened its membership campaign on Saturday, aims at doubling its membership in Kerala to 30 lakhs.
K.P. Sreeshan, party vice president and campaign in-charge, said the party had 15 lakh members at present in the State. The campaign, a nationwide exercise which Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened in Varanasi, is on till August 11.
A.P. Abdullakutty, who was ousted from the Congress for praising Mr. Modi, tribal healer Lakshmikutty, dancer Kalamandalam Sathyabhama and actor M.R. Gopakumar were among those who were formally issued memberships at the State-level inauguration on Saturday.
Inaugurating the campaign, BJP State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said that there were ‘many hearts’ in the Congress beating for Mr. Modi. He expected many more ‘Abdullakuttys' to enter the BJP fold, he said.
The BJP will observe June 7 as ‘membership campaign day,' where booth-level interaction is planned across the State. The party's feeder organisations will launch their membership campaigns on Monday.
The CPI(M), which suffered a resounding defeat in the Lok Sabha election, was on the brink of liquidation, Mr. Pillai said. The CPI(M)'s post-election report had accepted the fact that the BJP was making inroads in Kerala, he said.
