Modi visits Varanasi for 'Good Governance Day'

The PM is to inspect Assi ghat on the banks of the Ganga and launch a cleanliness drive

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Varanasi on Thursday to mark 'Good Governance Day'. 

The favourable performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Assembly polls in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and the decision to confer the Bharat Ratna on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malaviya has provided the perfect landing pad to Modi.

Incidentally, December 25 is also the birthday of Vajpayee, who had represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha during his stint as prime minister.

Coinciding with Christmas, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gone all out to celebrate the day, made special after the nation's highest civilian award was conferred on Vajpayee the previous day.

Modi will spend close to five hours in Varanasi and attend a number of programmes on the occasion.

"There is no bigger tribute to Atal ji than celebrating his birthday as 'Good Governance Day' & pledging to devote ourselves to this cause," Modi had said in a tweet on Wednesday.

He is scheduled to lay the foundation of an inter-university centre for teacher’s education at the Banaras Hindu University.

Paying tribute to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, who is remembered as the founder of BHU, he had said on twitter: "Tributes to Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya on his birth anniversary. A man ahead of his time, he devoted himself to nationalism and education." 

Modi will also inspect Assi ghat on the banks of the Ganga and launch a cleanliness drive.

In his previous visit to Varanasi, Modi had spearheaded the cleanliness campaign in Uttar Pradesh as part of his pan-Indian Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. He himself had picked up a spade to clear silt at Assi Ghat.

Modi will also lay the foundation for expansion of Diesel Locomotive Works stadium.