The Congress on Thursday extended the deadline of its membership drive for the Organisational polls from 31st March to 15th April.
According to news agency ANI, the deadline has been pushed till April 15.
The development comes a day after Telangana Congress leaders including state party chief Revanth Reddy met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, where-in the party inducted 40 lakh active members into the party-- the highest in India.
A delegation of Telangana Congress met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi here on Wednesday.
Reddy in a conversation with ANI said, "We from Telangana Congress, along with senior-most leaders, met Rahul Gandhi. Under the Congress membership drive from December 9 to March, we inducted 40 lakh active members into the party-- the highest in India." During the meeting, an agreement was made of Rs 2 lakh accidental cover with an insurance company for those 40 lakh who became members. It starts from April 1.
"Made an agreement of Rs 2 lakh accidental cover with an insurance company for those who became members. It starts from April 1. Under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, we have given a cheque of Rs 6.34 crore to it," Reddy said.
The membership drive began on November 1 and the emphasis seems to be on digital membership to make the party better prepared for electoral challenges.
The sources said around 40 lakh members had enrolled in Telangana, 34 lakh in Karnataka, 15 lakh in Maharashtra, 10 lakh in Gujarat, 10 lakh in Kerala, five lakh in Chhattisgarh, four lakh in Bihar, three lakh in Delhi and three lakh in Rajasthan.
The southern states appear to have an upper hand in terms of Congress membership drive. Party leaders are trying to boost the 'digital membership' drive in all states including the five where assembly polls were held in February-March.
Congress is keen that those who have taken membership via 'paper' are also part of the digital register. This, the party feels, will help in better preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The party's membership drive is expected to be completed on March 31. Sources told ANI that about 4.5 crore people have become members of Congress so far with options available for enrolling through paper and digitally.
