Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur launched the application at their residence in the presence of AICC spokesperson PC Chacko and DPCC chief Ajay Maken.
The Congress online membership drive comes at a time when the BJP has claimed that it has emerged as the largest party in the world with a membership strength of 8.8 crores––surpassing the Communist Party of China which has 8.6 crore members.
“Any person wanting to be a part of the Congress can now apply through their smartphones. There is also an option in the application to take a selfie from one’s phone and submit it online. It will very useful, especially for the youth who are Internet savvy,” Maken told reporters here.
Congress had suffered a severe drubbing in the last Lok Sabha elections, winning only 44 seats.
Maken claimed that through this application––which is both android and I phone-based––anybody from any part of the country can become a member of the Indian National Congress.
This, he stated, was a new way of becoming a Congress member, apart from three other ways that the party had introduced.
“There are four ways of becoming members of the Congress. One way is to enter the website and fill up the form and apply for membership. The second way is to download the form, get it ‘photostated’ and distribute it among others, before sending it to the DCC or the PCC.
“And, the third way is the andoid and I-phone-based application through which Manmohan Singh and his wife have today become members of the party. The fourth way is through the Facebook page of INC where one is guided on how to become a member,” Maken said.
In reply to a question on what the target number was, the DPCC chief declared: “We have not set any target”.
“Rather than concentrating on numbers, we are more interested in concentrating on genuine membership...people who really believe in the ideology of the Congress and people who really want to be a part of the movement, the secular movement that Congress stands for...
“It is a membership drive for quality, for people who would really like to be inducted into the party,” he said.
On being asked if the app-based membership drive is inspired by the BJP’s ‘missed call’ membership drive, Maken said, “In this country, the Congress is the only party which has started a mobile-based application to enrol members...we are not following any party.”
The membership drive will continue till May 15.
(With inputs from PTI)
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