Gearing up for the Assembly elections, chief minister and Jamshedpur East MLA Raghubar Das said he wanted 50,000 new BJP members from his constituency alone in July and 25 lakh from across Jharkhand in a month while speaking on Saturday at his home turf Birsanagar here to promote the party’s membership drive.

The BJP started its all-India membership Sangathan Parv 2019 from Saturday, the birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the BJP’s parent company Jana Sangh, which will last till August 11.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide Sangathan Parv 2019 from Varanasi.

Paying tribute to Mookerjee, Das said: “The BJP party unit of Jamshedpur East has to recruit 50,000 new members by the end of July while across the state we plan to enrol 25 lakh new members by August 11.”

In Jamshedpur, over 1,000 supporters at Dungritola locality in Birsanagar braved intermittent rains to listen to the chief minister as he outlined the party’s membership targets for his constituency and the state. Das, who has won from his constituency the last five elections, added in his 20-minute speech: “It is our responsibility to enrol all those working towards nation building, irrespective of their social background, into the party. It (the membership drive) is essential to make the party strong not only for electoral gains but to ensure that mission of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on right track for making a new India.”

He added they had set a target of one lakh new members to the BJP from Jamshedpur Lok Sabha constituency (Assembly segments Jamshedpur East, Jamshedpur West, Potka, Jugsalai, Ghatshila and Baharagora).

He also urged the party members to take part in the jal sanchayan (water conservation) programme launched by Modi.

“Party members should play a crucial role in spreading awareness on the need for water conservation, especially in urban areas, plant saplings and create awareness on water conservation at least on Sundays,” added Das.

The chief minister also exhorted party members to ensure that every eligible household in Jharkhand got free gas stove under Ujjwala Yojana by September 11.

Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto was present at the venue along with other BJP leaders and workers.