File photo of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
A senior Congress leader has earned the Prime Minister's appreciation. "Glad to see Assam CM Tarun Gogoiji inspiring the people of Assam to work towards a Clean India," the PM posted on Twitter today.
Acknowledging the compliment, Mr Gogoi, who is serving his third term as Chief Minister of Assam, said "Together we can make Clean India happen," according to a spokesperson in his office.
On October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, the PM launched a countrywide five-year Clean India campaign, which urges citizens and obliges government officials to clean up public spaces and focus on introducing better sanitation. The PM led by example, symbolically sweeping a narrow lane in North Delhi and then tackling garbage in a surprise check at a police station in the heart of the capital.
Mr Gogoi yesterday was seen sweeping the compound at a park where the festival of Durga Puja had been completed.
Mr Gogoi then tweeted, "Formally kicked off the Clean Assam Campaign in Guwahati city. It evoked a good response. Our Government had started the Clean Guwahati Campaign in February 2012."
The mutual appreciation between the Prime Minister and Mr Gogoi appears to be controversy-free so far. That's not the case for another senior Congressman, Shashi Tharoor, who was one of nine people "tagged" by the PM to participate in the Clean India campaign. The PM said his movement is apolitical while nominating Mr Tharoor along with actors Salman Khan and Kamal Haasan and sports icon Sachin Tendulkar. Mr Tharoor, who said he was "honoured" by the PM's invite, has been attacked by the leaders of his party in his home state of Kerala who accuse him of betraying a softness for the ruling BJP. Mr Tharoor has denounced those allegations, declaring, "Being receptive to specific statements or actions of BJP leaders does not remotely imply acceptance of the party's core Hindutva agenda. The PM pitched his appeal as a non-political one and I received it in that spirit. I am not pro-BJP but pro-India."