Cleanliness ‘tamasha’ ahead of PM’s visit

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 26

A cleanliness mania of sorts has gripped the state capital Shimla ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state capital Shimla tomorrow. BJP leaders wielding brooms and sweeping the streets and roads is a common site here.

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by the Prime minister on October 2, 2014. BJP leaders have now joined the mission, showing their concern for cleanliness on the eve of the Prime Minister’s visit. The Facebook is full of photographs of BJP leaders and workers carrying brooms, cleaning streets and posing for photographs. This has bemused the locals who are mocking at this ‘tamasha’.

The cleanliness drive is confined only to selected locations and places and huge nallah below Combermere bridge on the Mall Road in the heart of the city is full of garbage. It has not caught the eye of BJP workers and no attempt was made to clean the nallah which becomes a fertile ground for mosquitoes during summers.

The BJP leaders, who have taken to broom to clean the roads, can be seen carrying party flags but in most of the cases the cleanliness drive is symbolic, aimed only at publicity.

Making fun of BJP’s cleanliness drive, the local residents say that the focus of the drive was more on the areas which are already clean. Hill slopes and nallahs, which have become garbage dumps, have been left untouched.

“If the BJP leaders were so serious about the Swachh Abhiyan started by the Prime Minister and adopted it as part of a lifestyle, the need for carrying brooms would not have arisen”, said Rakesh Kumar, a residentof Kaithu.

The BJP leaders including Union Minister J P Nadda, former Chief Minister P K Dhumal, state president Satpal Singh Satti, party chief spokesperson Rajiv Bindal wielded brooms turning a blind eye at the Nallah at the Lift in the heart of the town, which is full of polythene and garbage. In fact, the focus of the cleanliness drive has been the Mall Road and other main roads, said shopkeeper Varun Sood.

The BJP will also hold a roadshow from the Central Telegraph Office to the Ridge. Barricades have been erected on the Mall road, the route of Prime Minister’s motorcade. BJP leaders said it would depend on the Prime Minister whether he would travel in an open jeep and greet the people lining up along the road to welcome him.

As many as 68 eminent persons owing their loyalty to different political organizations today joined the BJP along with their supporters in the presence of state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti.

The BJYM took out an impressive rally during the day to create awareness and invite people for the rally.

Drive or photo-op?

• The Facebook is full of photographs of BJP leaders and workers carrying brooms, cleaning streets and posing for photographs. This has bemused the locals who are mocking at this 'tamasha'.
• The BJP leaders, who have taken to broom to clean the roads, can be seen carrying party flags but in most of the cases the cleanliness drive is symbolic, aimed only at publicity.

Confined to select locations

A huge nullah below the Combermere bridge on the Mall Road in the heart of the city is full of garbage. It has not caught the eye of BJP workers and no attempt was made to clean the nullah which becomes a fertile ground for mosquito breeding.