Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party does not indulge in votebank politics. “For us, governance is not about vote bank politics or winning elections,” he said, while addressing farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahanshahpur district. “Our priority is development of the country.”

Modi said the government had introduced schemes such as soil health cars to benefit the farmers. “Doubling of farmers’ income is an area in which significant work is being done,” he said.

The prime minister pitched for a cleaner India and said it was the collective responsibility of the citizens to keep India clean. He said Swachhta (cleanliness) has to become Swabhav (habit). “Cleanliness is a way to serve the poor of India,” he said.

Advertisement

Earlier on Saturday, Modi launched a sanitation drive at a village in Shahanshapur by laying a foundation stone for a toilet that will be built under the Swachh Bharat programme. The prime minister said the people of the village had promised to make it an Open Defecation Free place.

Besides inaugurating a cowshed in the district, the prime minister also launched the Pashudhan Arogya Mela – an animal welfare fair. He distributed certificates to the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna.

He said the animal welfare fair will act as a boon for the poor who will get an opportunity to look after their milch animals. “I want to compliment Uttar Pradesh government, and especially Chief Minister Adityanath for organising the Pashudhan Arogya Mela,” he said.

On Friday, Modi had flagged off the third Mahamana Express, which will connect Varanasi with Vadodara. At the inauguration, Modi had said his government wanted to “wipe out” poverty. “Previous governments seemed to hate development and looted public money to win elections,” the prime minister said, according to PTI. “Our aim is to see that the dream of development is fulfilled and lives of poor changes and they get opportunities. No poor person wants to give their children their poverty in inheritance.”