File photo of singer Kailash Kher.
Bollywood singer Kailash Kher, who was nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry forward the Swachh Bharat campaign, wielded the broom at the Bhadaini ghat on the banks of river Ganga today, drawing praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Bravo @kailashkher! I congratulate you for joining Swachh Bharat Mission in Varanasi. Admirable effort," the Prime Minister tweeted.
To encourage people to join the PM's Clean India campaign, Mr Kher sang songs while wielding the broom. He said he feels extremely privileged that the Prime Minister nominated him for his Swachh Bharat mission.
Taking forward the Clean India mission in PM Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Mr Kher on Monday visited the Bhadaini ghat, Assi ghat, Ganga Mahal ghat and the Tulsi ghat among other places in the city.
He also nominated nine people to carry forward the campaign. He named retired Justice Giridhar Malaviya (grandson of Banaras Hindu University or BHU founder Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya), Ashok Dhyanchand (former hockey player), Rekha Bhardwaj and Vishal Bhardwaj, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Neelesh Misra and Roshan Abbas (all from Bollywood) and Chandramauli Upadhyaya (a professor in BHU's astrology department).
Mr Kher said he will sing songs to create awareness among people about keeping their surroundings clean and will encourage them to avoid using plastic bags.
"Swachha bharat ka irada kar liya hamne, swachhata ki jyoti lekar ham ghar ghar jayenge, swachha roshani mein sabhi ab to nahayenge," he sang.
Mr Kher also said that if people would just contribute one rupee everyday for the cleanliness of their bylanes and the colonies, it would make a big difference. On Monday night he thanked the students and teachers of BHU as well as the people of Varanasi on Twitter for supporting him in the Swachh Bharat Mission.
"Started My #SwachhBharat Sewa frm Assi Ghat Varanasi. Sar Pe Uthayi Tokri felt Proudly Emotional. Amazing people here," he tweeted.
In another tweet, he said, "Prof IIT BHU team f Btech students n Locals participated with me also took Pledge to keep surrounding Clean, thank u (sic)".