Congress Adds 2.6cr More Members In First Ever Digital Drive

New Delhi, April 15 : Congress added 2.6 crore members through a membership drive held from November 1 to April 15, with party president Sonia Gandhi getting enrolled as a digital member on Friday, party said. Party General Secretary KC Venugopal said in a statement digital membership drive was held for the first time by Congress. The drive started on November 1, 2021. Former Congress President and MP Rahul Gandhi was one of the first Congress leaders to be enrolled as a digital member. Unlike previous years, this time, the CWC decided to implement the digital membership drive in addition to the standard paper membership process for the period 2022-2027. “It is a matter of happiness that the digital membership drive has evinced great interest from people of the country, especially younger supporters of the Congress party,” Venugopal said. Through the digital membership drive, Congress party has so far added 2.6 crore members across all booths in all assembly segments. “These are all verified members, enrolled into the party by a designated enroller using a proprietary mobile phone app called Congress Membership App,” Congress said. The party is also enrolling the members through the physical/paper membership copies, the total membership will be known in some days after verification of documents. “Every digital member after verification gets a digital ID card that is QR coded for authenticity. A network of over 5 lakh party approved enrollers went door to door to enrol members across the length and breadth of the country”. “Ever since we started the drive, the key focus has been on quality of membership, not just quantity. Every member is verified at three levels, voter ID, photograph and phone number. The drive is strictly access controlled and only verified enrollers can use the membership app,” said Praveen Chakravarty, chairman, AICC Data Analytics department. For the first time in the party’s 135 year history, it has embarked on a digital membership drive that will now form the basis for internal elections as well as organisation building, the Congress said.