Kolkata, Dec 9 (IANS): The deadline for achieving the target of inducting one crore new party members in West Bengal by the state unit of BJP has been extended to December 31 from the current deadline of December 15.

The decision was taken at a meeting with the elected Parliamentarians of the party from West Bengal, both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, chaired by BJP’s central observer for West Bengal Sunil Bansal in Delhi on Monday afternoon, said a party insider aware of the developments at the meeting.

Of the 14 Parliamentarians of BJP from West Bengal, 12 in Lok Sabha and two in Rajya Sabha, 10 were present at the meeting.

The four party MPs who could not attend the meeting include three Lok Sabha members, namely Raju Bista from Darjeeling, Manoj Tigga from Alipurduar, Abhijit Gangopadhyay from Tamluk and the party Rajya Sabha member Ananta Maharaj.

Party insiders said that in the current month, Bansal is expected to hold a separate meeting with BJP’s legislative team in the West Bengal Assembly.

A senior party official hinted that Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, may play a crucial role in boosting the membership campaign.

Although December 15 was set as the deadline earlier to achieve the induction of one crore new members in West Bengal, till date only one-fourth of that target has been achieved. In such a situation, the central leadership of BJP has decided to extend the deadline to achieve the target till December 31.

In the meeting, party insiders said, Bansal also urged the party MPs to concentrate on networking in their respective areas just not to aggravate the new membership drive, but also to strengthen the organizational base of the party there, especially the booth-level organizations.