Union Minister welcomes Army veterans, former bureaucrats, envoys into BJP

New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) In a shot in the arm for the mega membership drive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), more than a dozen eminent citizens from various backgrounds, including retired bureaucrats and envoys, joined the party on Wednesday and expressed their desire to serve their motherland.

Briefing the media about the distinguished citizens joining the BJP, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri called it a matter of great joy and also the beginning of 'exciting days' ahead.

“The BJP 'parivaar' is already very big. A lot of people had expressed their desire to join the party. Today, we had the first such meeting where these people formally joined the BJP,” he said.

Retired ambassadors, Army veterans, and former revenue service officers totalling about 19 took up the party's membership on Wednesday, the Union Minister informed.

“These are people who have devoted the best part of their lives in serving the nation, and now they want to continue in some other form. All of them are impressed with the country's progress and believe in BJP’s core philosophy of ‘Nation First’,” Hardeep Puri said.

He also said that there are many more willing to align with the BJP, and suggested reaching out to them via a party representative.

Major General (Retd) Kharbanda, who joined the party on Wednesday, said their desire to serve the motherland prompted them to join the BJP as they believe that the association will give them a chance to do something for the nation.

“I have served the Army and the motherland for more than 40 years. I also fought the 1971 war against Pakistan. After retirement, we were pained to see the state of affairs in the country. But after 2014, India is moving ahead with 'Aatmanirbharta'. We look forward to adding strength to the mission,” he said.

Notably, BJP’s first phase of membership drive is currently underway with crores of people enrolling themselves as party members in a span of one week.

The drive, which kicked off on September 2 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi renewing his membership, aims to breach its previous record figures of 11 crore.