Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) mega membership drive in Varanasi on Saturday, July 6. This was PM Modi's maiden visit to his constituency Varanasi after taking oath as the Prime Minister for the second time.
The drive, which aimed at increasing the party's membership by 20 per cent, marked the birth anniversary of BJP's founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee.
Taking to Twitter, the PM on Friday said, "On the Jayanti of our inspiration, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the @BJP4India Membership Drive will begin. I will be joining the programme in Kashi to mark the same. This drive will further connect people from all walks of life with the BJP family. It will strengthen our party."
PM Modi will be received by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Ram Naik, BJP working president JP Nadda and Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey at the Varanasi airport. He will land at around 10 am following which he will inaugurate a statue of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at the airport of the temple town in Uttar Pradesh. This will be followed by a tree-plantation campaign, "Anand Kanan".
Around 5,000 party workers will gather at Deendayal Upadhyaya Trade Facilitation Centre in Bada Lalpur to listen to PM Modi's address, where he will launch the membership drive and facilitate some of the party workers.
Party vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that anyone can become a member by giving a missed call on a mobile number or by filing a form.
"...I will visit the Virtual Museum at Man Mahal. Situated near the iconic Dashashwamedh Ghat, this is a cultural landmark of the city. It showcases aspects of our great cultural heritage," tweeted PM Modi, referring to the riverside ghats in Varanasi popular with devotees and tourists.
The drive, which will conclude on August 11, will see the participation of many senior leaders. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will participate in the drive in Jaipur, party president and Home Minister Amit Shah in Hyderabad and Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur. Smriti Irani will be in Amethi to launch the drive at Gauriganj party office.
Earlier, on May 27, the Prime Minister visited Varanasi for the first time after he won the Lok Sabha elections by a huge margin of 4.79 lakh votes to thank the people for reposing faith in him and offered prayers at the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple.
PM Modi's visit comes a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in Parliament, citing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's vision of taking India to a $5 trillion economy in five years.
