BJP to throw out 'tainted' recruits in UP

Party plans to identify new members with criminal past

Apparently concerned over the reported entry of many ‘tainted’ people into the party during its recent membership drive in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP state leadership has decided to take steps to throw out such members from the party.

The party plans to undertake a ‘comprehensive review’ of the membership in the days to come to identify those who had a tainted past and cancel their membership, according to state BJP leaders.

“We will conduct a careful scrutiny of the newly enrolled members of the party in different districts. We will throw out the mafia elements and those who have controversial antecedents,” said party’s national vice-president Dinesh Sharma.

He said the work of identification of the tainted entrants would be undertaken at booth-level.
“The membership of such people will be cancelled after it is established that they have a criminal past,” he added.

The BJP leaders claimed that the party had over one crore members in the state.
“The membership drive is continuing and we expect more members to get enrolled,” the leaders said.

The state leadership, in a bid to encourage the leaders to enrol more members, has offered ‘tea with Shah’ (a chance to have tea with national BJP chief Amit Shah) to those who recruit the most.
The decision to identify tainted entrants comes in the wake of entry of a ‘muscleman’ in Gonda district recently.

Jail term
Former MLA and Samajwadi Party leader Dileep Verma, who had served term in jail on charges of assaulting a policeman in Baharaich district, had managed to obtain membership of the saffron party.

The entry of Verma,
who faces several criminal cases, came as a huge embarrassment for the state BJP leadership, which had been stating that no tainted leader will
be allowed entry into the party in its ongoing membership drive.
DH News Service