Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 3 : Kerala unit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K. Surendran on Tuesday said that the party has set a goal to enroll 50 lakh people into its fold as part of the membership drive launched here.

The membership drive ends on September 10, and the party and its leaders are trying to reach out to all sections of society across the state.

"Nationally, our party is working to add another 10 crore new party members to the 21 crore members that we have. In Kerala, we will be inducting five million new members," Surendran said while addressing the newly-inducted people to the party at the Vattiyoorkavu Assembly constituency in the state capital city.

"The CPI-M in Kerala will be wiped out with the end of the Pinarayi Vijayan government (in 2026). The outcome of the recent Lok Sabha polls is that the people will now hand things to the BJP as they are now fed up with the traditional political rivals - the CPI-M-led Left and the Congress-led UDF," added Surendran.

"The BJP will be the new force in Kerala as the time has dawned for the party. The people have now realised that the traditional rivals are spreading fake and false news against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, as the results of the Lok Sabha polls showed. People have also realised that the decade-long rule of PM Modi has brought cheers to Kerala," said Surendran.

Incidentally, actor-turned former Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi's stunning victory came from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency after the entire top brass of CPI-M-led Left Front, and the Congress-led UDF -- predicted a poor showing for the party.

However, not only did the BJP win one seat, the silver lining was the 19.24 per cent vote share that the party got in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, up from 15.64 per cent compared to the 2019 general elections.

Political analysts believe that compared to the 12.36 per cent votes the BJP got in the 2021 Assembly polls, the fresh electoral gains are impressive.

/IANS