Congress extends membership drive to April 15

New Delhi [India], March 31 : The Congress party has extended the deadline of its membership drive for the Organisational polls from March 31 to April 15, said sources.
The Congress' membership drive began on November 1 last year.
The southern states are leading in this drive with Telangana on top as per party sources.
The sources said 39 lakh members had enrolled in Telangana, 34 lakh in Karnataka, 15 lakh in Maharashtra, 10 lakh in Gujarat, 10 lakh in Kerala, five lakh in Chhattisgarh, four lakh in Bihar, three lakh in Delhi and three lakh in Rajasthan.
The emphasis of the drive seems to be on digital membership to make the party better prepared for electoral challenges.
Party leaders are trying to boost the 'digital membership' drive in all states including the five where assembly polls were held in February-March.
Congress is keen that those who have taken membership via 'paper' are also part of the digital register. This, the party feels, will help in better preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Sources said about 4.5 crore people have become members of Congress so far with options available for enrolling through paper and digitally.
While about three crore people joined the party within five months of the commencement of the paper membership, 1.3 crore members opted for digital membership in the first 40 days of the drive, sources said.
Sources said 42 per cent of women and 47 per cent of men aged between 18 to 40 years have opted for a digital membership.
The membership of the party has been 18 per cent for general, 32 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 21 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SCs), 12 per cent for Scheduled Tribes (STs), 10 per cent for minorities and four per cent for economically backward people.