Amit Shah could stay as BJP president till December, hints BJP

BJP on Thursday dropped hints that Amit Shah could stay as party president till December.

Despite the massive mandate it achieved to form the government for the second time, Shah told party leaders that BJP has not reached its peak even after getting 303 seats in the Lok Sabha.

"The party will first go for the membership drive. Organizational elections will happen only after that," party leader Bhupendra Yadav told reporters at the party headquarters while briefing about Amit Shah's meeting with party leaders.

When reporters repeated the same question about Amit Shah heading the party, he kept maintaining that the party would first have to complete the membership drive.

Yadav also said that the party president said that BJP has not reached its peak, a statement he had made in August 2014 when he assumed the post of president after BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

"Amit Shah during his address said that it is the hard work of the party workers that out of 353 seats, on 220 seats, we got more than 50 per cent votes. He repeated that BJP has not reached its peak yet as he had said on August 9, 2014, soon after taking over as party president," said Yadav.

BJP has decided to increase its members by 20 percent which could take up to three months.

After that, elections at mandal, district, and state level will take place. Once these elections are over, only then a new national president will be elected.

Notably, the Assembly Elections in Jharkhand is expected to be conducted during December. Before Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana will also go to polls.

Elaborating on the membership drive, BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav said, "We are going to initiate a new membership drive which takes place every three years. President has appointed Shivraj Singh Chauhan has appointed him as the convenor of this membership drive. Dushyant Gautam, Suresh Pujari, Arun Chaturvedi and Shobha Surendran will be vice-convenors of the membership drive."

This team will soon tell the media about the new membership drive, the BJP leader said.

Talking about Amit Shah's address during the meeting held with party officials, Yadav said, "Shah in his address said that three things had become a thorn in Indian politics - Jativaad (casteism), Parivaarvaad (dynasty politics), Sampradayvaad (communalism). The mandate of 2019 is a referendum against these things."

Shah also appealed to workers to further expand the base of the party.

"This is the reason that the myth of caste-based alliance in Uttar Pradesh has been shattered in this election. Wherever the party lacked a base, the workers through their hard work created one. Workers worked hard for the victory of democracy even in West Bengal where (opponents) resorted to violence," Yadav said.

-ANI