Kolkata: The Bengal BJP's membership drive on Wednesday reached the iconic Coffee House on College Street. BJP's youth leaders debated policies over cups of coffee with those who visited the Coffee House on Wednesday afternoon.
The idea to visit the Coffee House, frequented mostly by left-wing radicals and liberals, was debated within the BJP's Yuva Morcha first. Some of the youth leaders thought it might not reap benefits. Some were also apprehensive after the 2021 experience when they faced resistance from the campaigners of the ‘No Vote to BJP' at Coffee House. Historically, Coffee House has been associated with liberal thoughts and has been a melting pot of political and cultural ideas.
"But we decided to give it a shot. There is nothing better than a healthy debate, and we were open to that. We are tolerant and accommodative towards opposing political ideologies," said Indranil Khan, president of the state unit of BJP's Yuva Morcha. When the BJP workers reached Coffee House in the afternoon, they started approaching each of the guests with a pamphlet and put forward their agenda of a ‘better Bengal'.
"There were people who were not aligned with our ideologies. We shared our vision of a better Bengal, which will again host industries and stop the migration of the youth. Some put forward counter-arguments. But we tried to convince them to work for the betterment of the state, even if they do not support us," Khan said. BJP workers met each of the guests and had 37 opting for the party's membership on the spot. After the Coffee House visit, they campaigned extensively across Boipara, barely a hundred meters away from the Bengal BJP's headquarters at Murli Dhar Sen Lane.
According to the state leadership, the membership drive, which started on Oct 28, almost a month after its scheduled date, has so far registered more than 30 lakh members. Earlier, the Union home minister Amit Shah set a target of 1 crore members this year. "This drive will continue till Dec 15, and central leaders will take a decision on that afterwards," a Bengal BJP functionary said.