Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA Sparks Row, Alleging Irregularities In Party's Membership Drive

Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA and former minister Ajay Vishnoi has sparked debate within his party by raising concerns over its ongoing membership drive in the state. In a recent post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Mr Vishnoi questioned the process, implying that the campaign had been outsourced to external agencies and money was being spent to inflate membership numbers.

In his post, Mr Vishnoi highlighted a personal experience in which he received a phone call from an agency offering to increase BJP membership numbers on a contractual basis. He expressed disappointment at the growing trend of individuals using such services to gain favor with the party.

"Today I received a call from an agency on my phone, asking for a contract to increase BJP membership from my account. Obviously, there are many such agencies. By taking their services, some self-serving leaders must be trying to rise through the ranks by flattering the organization," his post read. 

He further remarked how, in the past, certain individuals rose to prominence by printing advertisements and offering hospitality to party leaders. 

Mr Vishnoi expressed disappointment with this new trend, where money is being used to bolster membership numbers artificially, implying that genuine party workers were being sidelined in favor of those seeking shortcuts to leadership positions.

"We old workers can do nothing but regret this decline," he wrote.

The BJP has filed complaints with the Bhopal and Indore Crime Branch, alleging that the phone call received by the MLA was part of a conspiracy to defame the party. It accused an unnamed political party of orchestrating the call to discredit their membership drive. 

"Strict legal action should be taken against the user of the number or the real owner of the number," the party's complaint read.

The complaint pointed out that Mr Vishnoi received calls from the same number at three different times -- 8:53 am, 10:10 am, and 1:15 pm -- and requested a thorough investigation and legal action to identify the people behind the call.