Bhopal, Aug 22 : To make politics clean, the BJP on Thursday said that the party will not give membership to the people with criminal backgrounds.

'We will reach our target of 1.5 crore membership. However, to make politics clean and free from corrupt practices, the party has decided not to give membership to those who have criminal backgrounds,' a senior BJP leader told IANS.

He added that the leadership has clearly instructed the party members to check the background of people willing to get the membership.

'Everyone will be verified before giving the membership. The State Membership Committee will ensure that the membership drive will be carried out while complying with instructions received from the central leadership,' he said.

BJP's membership drive is set to begin on September 1 across the country.

The senior leader said that state BJP leadership is very confident in achieving the party's target of 1.5 crore members as the party already has around 95 lakh members.

'Therefore, around 55 lakh more members need to be added to achieve the target through the upcoming membership drive,' the BJP leader said.

The BJP has also claimed that it has added around 6.5 lakh new members during the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

'The party has 95 lakh primary members registered during the last membership drive. There are around 41 lakh digitally registered active members, which also include 6.5 lakh who joined the party in the last year,' the leader said.

/IANS