New Delhi | Sixty-one per cent of those who joined the BJP during its ongoing membership drive are aged under 35, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Monday quoting party President J P Nadda.

Nadda made the revelation at a meeting of BJP leaders held at the party headquarters here to discuss the upcoming organisational polls, Patra said at a press conference.

"At the meeting, the BJP President said 61 per cent of those who joined the party so far during the ongoing membership drive are below 35 years of age," Patra told reporters.

The party will share the total number of BJP members enrolled so far later, Patra said while replying to a media query on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the youth from "non-political" background to join politics.

Addressing an event in Varanasi on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi accused the Congress and the Samajwadi Party of practising nepotism to the extent that they overlooked Varanasi's development, and called on the youth from non-political background to join politics.

He also said the "dynasts" have harmed the country's youth the most.

In his Independence Day speech on August 15, the prime minister gave a call to bring one lakh youth who do not have any political lineage into politics as public representatives, saying the move will also help end casteism and dynasty politics.

"Youth are joining the BJP in large numbers after the prime minister’s call," Patra said.