Author:
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: December 1 , 2014
URL:   http://www.telegraphindia.com/1141201/jsp/calcutta/story_19109077.jsp#.VHuundKUeSo

D For Dais And Dial

The number that guarantees a BJP membership with a missed call occupies pride of display space on the dais in front of Victoria House on Sunday. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta and Pradip Sanyal

The BJP dais in front of Victoria House on Sunday promised a membership for every missed call to the number 18002662020. Metro dialled Code BJP to check if it works

• The call gets automatically disconnected at first try

• Within seconds comes a text that says: “Welcome to BJP. Your Primary Membership no. is xxxxxxxxxx. SMS your Name, Address and Pincode (if possible email and Voter ID) to 09242492424 to complete the process.”

• A text with the required details is sent to the second number, which is immediately acknowledged: “Thanks for the info. Please ask family members, relatives and friends to give a missed call to 18002662020 to join the BJP. Chalo Chale Modi Ke Saath!”

• Two calls from the same number do not mean two memberships. When Metro dialled the first number again, the reply read: “You are already a BJP member. Membership no. – xxxxxxxxxx. Please encourage your family, friends and relatives to join BJP by giving a missed call at 18002662020”

After the rally ended, the BJP said that 1,32,000 people had enrolled through a missed call each or online in a span of 10 minutes, supposedly a record since Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the membership drive on November 1.

“In 10 minutes, while the rally was going on today, 1,32,000 people became members of the BJP, either through their mobiles or online,” state party president Rahul Sinha told a news conference. “This is a record. At the rally itself, thousands raised their hands when asked whether they would join the BJP.”