Southern states ahead in Congress membership drive, Telangana unit leads

New Delhi [India], March 28 : With Congress making efforts for the success of its membership drive, the party's Telangana unit is ahead of other southern states in enrolling new members, party sources said.
The membership drive began on November 1 and the emphasis seems to be on digital membership to make the party better prepared for electoral challenges.
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 southern states appear to have an upper hand in terms of Congress membership drive. 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.
The party's membership drive is expected to be completed on March 31.
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 in 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.
Party leader Rahul Gandhi enrolled digitally and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to do so in the next few days.
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.
Party sources estimate that by March 31, about four crore more members are likely to take party membership through the conventional method and about two crore more in a digital manner.
The final figures are expected in the first week of April.
A Congress leader said there is "no place for forgery in the drive." He said the process has three stages - members' name and photo are captured, there is OTP confirmation and Election Commission data is matched.
"The biggest advantage is that members' accounts and information will be available with a single click and this will help improve penetration of party's programmes. This will help us take on the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls and counter their narrative," the leader said. Congress data department head Praveen Chakraborty is also running the party's digital membership campaign.
A source quoted Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as saying during a meeting recently that priority will be given in ticket distribution to people who make more members.
The membership drive is a crucial step for the Congress organisational polls to be held later this year.