A controversy erupted in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after some senior Congress leaders received messages from the BJP on their mobile phones that their membership to the party has been accepted. Part of the BJP’s nationwide membership drive, the messages are sent after someone gives a missed call to a toll free number.
Among the Congress leaders who received the messages were leader of opposition T S Sinhadev and party spokesperson S N Trivedi. “Welcome to BJP. Your primary membership number is 1063187317. SMS your name, address and pin code (if possible email and voter ID) to 09424292424 to complete the process,” read the message to Trivedi.
Taking a strong exception to these messages, Trivedi said: “It confirms the fraud that the BJP is committing in the name of its membership drive. I never wanted to be a member, still I received this message. They are fraudulently swelling their numbers. It exposes their membership drive.”
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However, Chhattisgarh BJP IT Cell chief Deepak Mehaske said: “Our system is totally transparent and computer generated. People can get such messages only when they call our toll free number. There is no fault at our system. If some people are saying that they received such messages, they must get their phones checked…”
Trivedi countered Mehaske’s claims and said that the BJP must disclose their call details. “I have never made any call. I am a Congress member for the last 25 years and have no desire to join the BJP. Let them reveal my call details.”
He alleged that BJP president Amit Shah has given an unrealistic target of making 50 lakh party members in Chhattisgarh. “Since the party is unable to meet this target, they are resorting to this fraudulent practice,” he said. Mehaske said that the messages are automatically-generated from a Delhi-based server.
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