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Maharashtra: Shiv Sena launches membership drive, wants over 1 cr primary members

The membership campaign was launched by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at the party's 52nd Foundation Day rally on Tuesday.

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Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
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In a bid to better the record of its estranged ally — BJP, the Shiv Sena has launched a membership drive, in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, to match or exceed the BJP's enrollment of over one crore primary members in Maharashtra.

The membership campaign was launched by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at the party's 52nd Foundation Day rally on Tuesday.

"We have a target of registering over one crore voters. However, unlike the BJP, we will not induct members through missed calls or websites, but focus on physical registrations at our offices and via door-to-door campaigns," said a senior Shiv Sena leader.

He added that the Shiv Sena's membership drive was a biennial exercise launched around the party's Foundation Day on June 19. In 2016, the Sena had registered around 65 lakh primary members.

"The campaign will continue for over a month. Compared to methods like missed calls, our door-to-door campaigns have more impact at the ground level as it helps Shiv Sainiks connect with people at the grassroot. This also helps us identify younger blood, which can be inducted into the party," noted another Shiv Sena legislator.

He added that this would enable the party to make in-roads in physical and demographic constituencies, which have traditionally not voted for the it.

In January, the Shiv Sena national executive resolved to contest the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections on its own. The BJP has stressed on an alliance to keep the Congress-NCP out of power. Earlier this month, Shah met Sena president Uddhav Thackeray under the party's 'Sampark for Samarthan' campaign.

Earlier, the BJP was forced to play the junior ally in Maharashtra because of the Shiv Sena's wider social and political base and the talismanic appeal of late Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who passed away in 2012. The two Hindutva outfits joined hands in 1989 after an attempt in 1984, which failed at the hustings in the Lok Sabha polls.

The alliance fell apart before the 2014 assembly polls over seat-sharing and the BJP, which cornered the four smaller allies in the 'Mahayuti,' managed to upstage its erstwhile senior ally to emerge as the single-largest party in the assembly.

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