Pune: Participate in large numbers in BJP’s membership drive, appeals Amol Balwadkar

Pune: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a membership drive on Monday (September 2) across the country. Over 20 lakh members are participating in the drive actively. A target has been set to enroll over 20 crores new members.

Former corporator and BJP worker from Kothrud Amol Balwadkar said, “I am participating in the drive as an active member of the party. I am appealing to all citizens to participate in the drive in a large number. I am appealing to you as a worker of the BJP. Elections are the biggest celebration of democracy. The State Assembly polls will be held soon. In this backdrop, the BJP has undertaken the membership drive.

“The BJP is not merely a political party. It is a national ideology. It is a party of workers. It is an all-inclusive family. Therefore, it is a pleasure and pride to become a worker of the BJP. I remember the speech delivered by Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996. He said, ‘Today’s MLAs will not be MLAs tomorrow. Some are MPs but may not be so tomorrow. The party replaces some, some are replaced by the people. But a worker is such a post, which can never be replaced. Nobody can snatch you of your right to be a worker. Because it is gained on the basis of party loyalty and hard work’.

“I still remember Hon’ble the late Girishbhau Bapat’s last address. Bapat Saheb was on the deathbed. But the worker in him was struggling to campaign in the Kasba Peth Assembly bypoll. Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, innumerable workers and doctors were advising him to rest and to not worry about the election. But the genuine worker as he was, Bapat Saheb came to a workers’ gathering with oxygen pipes in his nose and mouth. He had difficulty while speaking. Still, the worker in him did not allow him to sit quietly. He tried to enthuse other workers in that condition too. In his last speech, Bapat Saheb said, ‘A worker is the soul of the party. I have spent many years serving this soul. Preserve workers. Expand the organisation. Expand the party’.

“Everyone who loves India should become a member of the BJP. Accept the membership of the BJP, which respects its workers. I appeal to all that you should become a member of the BJP’s national ideology, which does not discriminate on the basis of caste, religion, language, region and rich or poor.”