The BJP Minority Morcha had set a target to enrol one lakh members in the week beginning September 17,which was Chief Minister Narendra Modis birthday. However,the morcha has managed to enrol only 50,000 members since its inception and is reserved about revealing the exact enrolment number. Admitting that the target was wide off the mark,Morcha leaders blame the shortfall on excessive rains. We had promised registering one lakh members by September 25,but could not do so due to excessive rains, said Morcha president Sufi Maheboobali Bawa. In the first lot,we were given receipt books (application forms) for 50,000 applicants,which we finished by September 25. In the second phase that began on September 29,we have enrolled another 15,000 primary members, he added. However,this is only about applying for primary membership where a form has to be filled on payment of Rs 5. Bawa said that getting enrolled thus did not make one a BJP member automatically. Each application would undergo scrutiny followed by a decision to grant primary membership. Asked about non-Muslim members of the Morcha,he said there were some Parsis in Valsad and Christians in the Dangs. Bawa claimed Muslims in the mainstream BJP could be around 25,000,however he had no idea how many were in the BJP Yuva Morcha. The BJYM in a similar drive claimed to have registered 6,30,000 members. Morchas former president Ghani Qureshi had the same explanation for low enrolment. He said,We could have crossed one lakh mark had heavy rains not disrupted the drive. He said that definition of minority included Christians,Parsis,but their number was not more than 500. Asked about community wise break-up,BJYM president Pradipsinh Vaghela said,We will soon prepare the data.
