<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign in his constituency of Varanasi by picking up a spade and clearing silt from the banks of the Ganga.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Modi also nominated nine people, including Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, for carrying forward the mission in the state.<br /><br />The prime minister, who concluded his two-day visit to Varanasi on Saturday, cleaned the silt deposited at Assi Ghat with hundreds of people, including workers from the local bodies.<br /><br />“It seems like the ghats had not been cleaned for years,” Modi quipped on seeing the silt spread all over the banks. <br /><br />“The cleanliness drive has started today....now I am sure all the ghats will be cleaned,” he added. The prime minister said he has been assured by the volunteers that ghats would be cleaned in a month. Modi also said that his government would expedite cleaning of the Ganga.<br /><br />Modi nominated nine people–Akhilesh, cricketers Md. Kaif and Suresh Raina, singer Kailash Kher, stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava, Bhojpuri actor and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, Varanasi Sanskrit University faculty Devi Prasad Dwivedi, Hindi writer Manu Sharma and founder of the varsity for the blind Rambha-dracharya –to take forward the campaign in UP.<br /><br />Modi, who spent a little over half an hour at the ghat, also paid obeisance to the Ganga. The prime minister later visited Ma Anandamayi Hospital.<br /></p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign in his constituency of Varanasi by picking up a spade and clearing silt from the banks of the Ganga.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Modi also nominated nine people, including Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, for carrying forward the mission in the state.<br /><br />The prime minister, who concluded his two-day visit to Varanasi on Saturday, cleaned the silt deposited at Assi Ghat with hundreds of people, including workers from the local bodies.<br /><br />“It seems like the ghats had not been cleaned for years,” Modi quipped on seeing the silt spread all over the banks. <br /><br />“The cleanliness drive has started today....now I am sure all the ghats will be cleaned,” he added. The prime minister said he has been assured by the volunteers that ghats would be cleaned in a month. Modi also said that his government would expedite cleaning of the Ganga.<br /><br />Modi nominated nine people–Akhilesh, cricketers Md. Kaif and Suresh Raina, singer Kailash Kher, stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava, Bhojpuri actor and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, Varanasi Sanskrit University faculty Devi Prasad Dwivedi, Hindi writer Manu Sharma and founder of the varsity for the blind Rambha-dracharya –to take forward the campaign in UP.<br /><br />Modi, who spent a little over half an hour at the ghat, also paid obeisance to the Ganga. The prime minister later visited Ma Anandamayi Hospital.<br /></p>
