MP: Callers demand money from BJP to boost drive, FIRs filed
The Jabalpur police have registered a FIR against an unnamed agencyfor offering to boost numbers to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meet the target of its ongoing membership drive.
The Jabalpur police have registered a FIR against an unnamed agencyfor offering to boost numbers to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meet the target of its ongoing membership drive.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint from Ajay Vishnoi, the legislator from Patan and a former minister in the Madhya Pradesh cabinet.
In a post on X, Vishnoi said, “I got a call from an agency for giving contract of membership campaign. In this way people will show themselves as big leaders by increasing the membership on the basis of money.” He also filed a complaint at the Omti police station on Wednesday.
The BJP’s membership drive targeted 15 million members in the state.
“Former minister Ajay Vishnoi received a call from an agency on his mobile. The caller asked for money for finding new members for the BJP. The FIR has been registered under sections 318 (cheating) and 319 (cheating by impersonation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha,” said city superintendent of police Pankaj Mishra .
This is the second FIR to be registered in a case related to the membership drive.
On Tuesday, the Indore Police registered a case after BJP leader Nimish Pathak received a call from a man who introduced himself as a member of an agency working for the BJP to fulfil the target of membership drive.
“The caller claimed to have contact details of residents of his area. In exchange for making them members, the BJP leader would have to pay ₹5 per member,” said Rajesh Dandotiya, additional deputy commissioner of police, Indore crime branch.
Pathak found out that the BJP had not appointed any agency.
The complaints come amid allegations by the opposition that the BJP is trying to boost its membership numbers through any means.
Two Congress MLAs Lakhan Ghanghoriya and Vinay Saxena from Jabalpur district complained of receiving thanks messages from BJP to become a member of the party. Ghanghoriya said, “The membership drive of BJP has become a joke. To meet their target, they are not sparing leaders of other party.”
Earlier, students in Guna accused the party of making them members without consent. “We were attending a seminar of AIDS control society at the government college in Guna. We have been asked to give a miss call on a number and later we received a message of becoming a member of BJP,” said a group of students.
“What kind of membership drive it is where people are making members without consent. Agencies are adding members by taking money. In Shahjapur, clash was reported between two groups due to the drive. BJP leaders are themselves revealing how leaders are faking the numbers,” said Kunal Chaudhary, Congress spokesperson.
BJP state president VD Sharma said some people were trying to malign the image of the party by making such calls. “It is BJP leaders who have registered complaint of being contacted by an agency. We have started physical verification from booth to state level with active membership drive. In the physical verification, criminals and others will be removed from the list. We are following a strict rule because BJP is a highly disciplined party .”
On Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh become the fourth state where the BJP achieved its target of 15 million members.