Union home minister, Amit Shah has set a target of enrolling one crore members before the state leadership. The state unit's membership drive is far behind this goal. The deadline for achieving the target of new members expires on November 30. This is all the more reason for developing cold feet for the West Bengal leaders.

The fear of chastisement for failure to reach the targeted membership is magnified in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Union home minister Shah having little reason to be pleased with the performance of West Bengal leaders. Despite their promises of making the state into an area where blooming lotuses (the BJP's symbol) abound, the state saffron unit fell far short of defeating the ruling dispensation of Trinamool Congress in 2021 Assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The successive poll reverses have been laid at the door of the state BJP unit which had failed to do the groundwork. Both Modi and Shah had crisscrossed the state during the campaigning in both the elections.

Though the duo had stayed away from the bypoll campaign, the state saffron unit's failure to reach the requisite membership strength would be another blot against it. The wrath of the BJP's central leadership would be manifest in the distribution of nomination of candidates in the 2026 Assembly polls.

Heads may also roll in the state leadership once the deadline expires. But the recruiters of the new members are now at their wits end to achieve the target of inducting one crore new members to their ranks. The state BJP has not yet disclosed it's membership figures. Sources stated it is 20 lakhs now.

Prospective members, no matter, how inclined they may be towards the saffron ideology, are now almost certain to have second thoughts about joining the state saffron camp. The Trinamool making a clean sweep of all the six bypolls including the saffron bastion of Madarihat, is a dampener to any addition to the BJP grassroot workers.

The percentage of votes the Trinamool candidate bagged at Naihati is 62.97 per cent while it is 76.63 per cent at Haroa, 53.44 per cent at Midnapur, 52.07 per cent at Taldangra, 76.08 per cent at Sitai and 54.08 per cent at Madarihat. These percentages are pointers to the loss of BJP's support base in West Bengal which are unlikely to make many people to enrol themselves in the state saffron unit.

The BJP vote share has dropped from 38.73 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls to 25.48 per cent in the by elections. The party candidates have lost their deposits at Sitai and Haroa, both minority- dominated constituencies. Demotivation has set in the saffron ranks, a senior leader in the party admitted requesting anonymity. This has led to slowing down of the ongoing membership drive.

Even as the state saffron camp leaders are in a tizzy to meet the membership target, intra-party sniping has started post the poll debacle. With state chief, Sukanta Majumdar already made a minister of state, a change in leadership is overdue, former state BJP chief, Tathagata Roy felt.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the membership drive on September 2, after the poll debacle many party activists have lost interest in reaching out to the people and urging them to join BJP, he said. It is embarrassing to ask the people to join the BJP which has failed to gain the people's support even in a single by-election, a leader said.

State party chief Sukanta Majumdar has already approached the national leadership for an extension of the last date, it was learnt. No nod to his request has been received yet, it was learnt. (IPA Service)