Yogi enrolls 5 e-rickshaw pullers as BJP members

Lucknow, Aug 4 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday enrolled five e-rickshaw pullers as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members.

E-rickshaw pullers Vishal Tiwari, Rashid Alam, Hariram Yadav, Guddu Chaurasia and Vinod Kumar were enrolled as members of the saffron party by the Chief Minister.

The move is a part of the BJP's membership drive that will conclude on August 10.

All senior BJP leaders have been asked to reach out to people from all sections of the society and enroll them as members in order to create a feeling of oneness.

The BJP is aiming to enrol 50 lakh new members in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the party's organising secretary Sunil Bansal, efforts are being made to bring farmers, labourers, people belonging to communities like dhobi, kumhar, badhai, lohar as well as engineers, doctors, teachers, artists, writers and sportspersons into the party fold.

Bansal on Saturday had enrolled members from the Nishad community as BJP members. Other BJP leaders too are reaching out to the marginalised caste groups in different parts of the state.

The BJP had earlier set a target of getting a minimum of 50 per cent votes at each of the 1.63 lakh polling stations in the state.

"We are now working towards getting 80 per cent votes in each booth. We are concentrating on bringing the OBC, Dalits and minorities into the party fold in order to achieve this new target," said a party leader.

The party is also focusing on the younger generations in these marginalised communities. The idea is to fortify the BJP's presence in these caste groups for the coming years.