Union Minister Joshi, K'taka BJP chief Vijayendra clean temple on Gandhi Jayanti

Bengaluru: Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi and Karnataka BJP President, B.Y. Vijayendra, participated in a cleanliness drive held at the Nimishamba Temple in Balepet as part of Gandhi Jayanti celebrations on Wednesday.

Joshi and Vijayendra along with BJP MP P.C. Mohan, MLC N. Ravikumar, and District President Saptagiri Gowda took brooms and cleaned the entire premises.

They also visited a Khadi shop and purchased some clothes.

The leaders also paid floral tributes to the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and late PM Lal Bahadur Shastri at the party office.

Union Minister Joshi told IANS, “On the auspicious occasion of birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, the BJP, Central government and the Karnataka government are participating in a Swachh Bharat programme.

“The party will take up the cleaning of premises of government offices, temples and public places in 15 days. The statues of great personalities will also be cleaned.”

Speaking on the occasion Vijayendra stated, “Mahatma Gandhi's relentless struggle for India's Independence served as an inspiration to millions of Indians. To realise Gandhi's dream of ‘Ram Rajya’, the nation's pride, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been leading the country with foresight for the last 10 years.”

“Gandhi's vision was that the country could only progress through the uplift of villages. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working hard to fulfill that vision. He is working tirelessly, day and night, as the nation’s ‘Pradhan Sevak’ (Prime Servant), with a determination that the benefits of development should reach the last person in the country," he said.

The BJP has been celebrating ‘Service Fortnight’ from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17 to Gandhi and Shastri’s birth anniversaries on October 2.

Vijayendra highlighted that various service activities such as blood donation camps and tree planting drives have been organised across the state, district, and taluk levels, taking into account Deendayal Upadhyay's birth anniversary as well, Vijayendra stated.

MPs Kota Srinivas Poojari and P.C. Mohan, MLC N. Ravikumar, State Treasurer Subba Narsimha, State Office Secretary Lokesh Ambekallu, Office Co-Secretary Vishwanath Anaji, Bengaluru Central District President Saptagiri Gowda, and other party leaders and office staff were present at the event.