BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday launched a nationwide cleanliness drive by the ruling party in temples and surrounding areas as he attended the exercise at Guru Ravidas Temple in Karol Bagh here.
Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers and chief ministers, picked up the broom in different parts of the country as the party looks to build up a fervour in the run up to the consecration of Lord Ram’s idol at the Ayodhya temple on January 22.
Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Yogi Adityanath, Bhupendra Patel, Bhajan Lal Sharma and Mohan Yadav joined the cleanliness campaign in Ayodhya, Gandhinagar, Jaipur and Ujjain, respectively.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw attended the exercise at a temple in Baleswar in Odisha. Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Meenakshi Lekhi were among others who cleaned up temples in different places.
”Following the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has decided that from Makar Sankranti to January 22, we (party leaders and workers) will conduct a cleanliness campaign at several temples and holy premises in the country,” Nadda told reporters as he kicked off the campaign.
Nadda said every BJP member is taking part in the campaign in different temples and will also be part of ’bhajan-kirtan’ exercises till January 22.
The choice of Ravidas temple is significant as the revered saint enjoys a huge following, especially among Dalits.
Union Minister of State for Culture Lekhi also took part in the Swachh Teerth campaign in New Delhi.
She posted pictures on X, saying she offered ’shramdaan’ at the old Hanuman temple near Connaught Place.
”Shramdaan, in the name of Lord Shri Ram. On the call of the illustrious Prime Minister of India, Respected Shri @narendramodi ji, on the launch of the cleanliness campaign to be run at pilgrimage sites and temples from January 14-22, today I did Shramdaan under the #SwachhTeerth campaign at the ancient Shri Hanuman Temple located in Connaught Place in my parliamentary constituency,” Lekhi, the BJP MP from New Delhi constituency, posted on X.
She also called upon people to contribute to this ”great campaign and celebrate Diwali by keeping our pilgrimage sites clean and lighting Ram Jyoti on January 22”.
The BJP will also be felicitating people’s visit to the Ram temple after January 22, when Prime Narendra Modi will attend the consecration ceremony, and help them in their stay.
The Uttar Pradesh government and several organisations on Sunday launched a statewide cleanliness drive, which will continue till January 22, the day of the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple.
Chief Minister Adityanath took part in the campaign in Ayodhya, while other ministers and public representatives joined the drive elsewhere.
”On the call of respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, major cleanliness campaign was started from Shri Ayodhya Dham today. On this occasion, vehicles related to garbage disposal and cleanliness were also flagged off. We are dedicated to keeping the divinity and sanctity of Navya Ayodhya intact,” Adityanath posted on X.
As part of the campaign, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya cleaned the Balkeshwar Hanuman Temple in Nirala Nagar in Lucknow.
Maurya swept the floor, picked up garbage and put it in a cart.
Another deputy chief minister, Brajesh Pathak, participated in the cleanliness drive at Dakshinmukhi Hanuman Temple in Lucknow.
In Gorakhpur, a cleanliness campaign was also organised at the Gorakhnath Temple Complex to make ’Khichdi Fair’ a zero-waste event.
Adityanath inaugurated the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation’s temporary camp office at the temple complex, the RRR Centre and the automatic vending machine installed by the GMC to provide cloth bags to keep the fair plastic-free.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha offered prayers at the Jagannath temple in Agartala and joined a cleanliness drive on the premises.
”Today, I joined the cleanliness drive at Jagannath temple here along with party karyakartas following the prime minister’s appeal… I appeal to the people of the state to join cleanliness drives in all the temples that will continue till January 22,” he wrote on X.
BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee also took part in a cleanliness drive at Ramakrishna Mission Ashram in Agaratala.
Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur participated in a cleanliness drive in Kalibari Temple in Shimla.
”After a long struggle of 50 years, the Ram temple is being formally consecrated on January 22 and Ayodhya is being developed like a global city. There is an atmosphere of enthusiasm and joy in the entire country,” the BJP leader told the media.
Thakur also took a jibe at the Congress for launching the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, saying there is no need to unite ’Bharat’ as the country is strongly united and moving ahead with full strength under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Sharma participated in the campaign by visiting the Hans Vihar Temple in Mansarovar in Jaipur.
Sharma appealed to the devotees and local people to take special care of cleanliness in temples.
In another programme, Rajasthan BJP president CP Joshi along with other party officials conducted cleanliness drive in Jaipur.
Modi had given a call for the cleanliness campaign and asked the party to take up various campaigns as one of its key promises comes to fruition with the consecration ceremony.
The prime minister was himself part of a cleanliness drive at a temple in Maharashtra during his visit to the state on January 12.
With the opening of temple to devotees marking the fulfilment of one of the BJP’s decades-long promises, the party hopes to reap political dividends in the Lok Sabha polls expected in April-May amid a general sense of enthusiasm in a large section of people over the development.
Modi has called upon citizens to celebrate the consecration ceremony as Diwali by lighting up diyas at their homes and neighbourhood temples.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
