Lucknow: Towards the end of his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw a googly at the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister which the latter may find tricky to manoeuvre.
In keeping with his earlier announcements, Modi on Saturday nominated nine individuals to join and take forward the Swachch Bharat campaign. Among those nominated are Akhilesh Yadav, besides cricketers Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif.
While others said they were honoured to be part of the cleanliness drive, Akhilesh Yadav simply smiled and moved away, preferring not to say anything when mediapersons approached him at the Chief Minister”s office in Lucknow.
On the second day of his visit, Modi visited the Assi Ghat in the morning and swept the Ghat for a brief while. He wielded a spade to remove a layer of silt deposited along the banks of Ganga. He also offered prayers to the river.
It was here that he nominated nine persons to carry forward the cleanliness drive in UP. Speaking to mediapersons, he said that just like the launch of Swachch Bharat Campaign in Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti, he was nominating nine noted persons from UP to take the drive forward in the state.
After leaving Assi Ghat, where he started off with special prayers to the holy river, Modi visited a nearby ashram set up by the followers of spiritual leader Sri Anandamayi Maa where he garlanded a statue of the 20th century saint and paid a visit to a charitable hospital in the premises. The nine persons are: Akhilesh Yadav, cricketers Raina and Kaif, BJP MP and Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari, entertainer Raju Srivastava, singer Kailash Kher, Chancellor of Chitrakoot University Jagadacharya Rambhadracharya, Sanskrit scholar Prof Devi Prasad Dwivedi and writer-scholar Manu Sharma.
Reacting to his nomination, Suresh Raina said he was honoured to be nominated by the Prime Minister, and added in a Tweet that he would take up the endeavour “as soon as I”m in Uttar Pradesh after ODI series.” In other reactions, entertainer Raju Srivastava said it was a proud moment for him while singer Kailash Kher said it was the duty of every countryman to maintain cleanliness.
On the other hand, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati said Lucknow that Modi had not taken any concrete steps for the welfare of the poor during the visit to Varanasi, adding that “populist announcements” were not of any use.
“Instead of taking any concrete steps for the welfare of the poor and deprived, he continued to blow his trumpet… But now, making populist promises alone are not going to be of any help and something concrete would have to be done for the crores of deprived people,” she was quoted saying in a press release.
