Jayapur Village, Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen the village of Jayapur, about 30 kilometres from the ancient temple town of Varanasi, as the village that he will focus on under a new scheme that he has introduced for law-makers.
“Jayapur is adopting me, not the other way around,” Mr Modi said at a large public meeting in Jayapur. Before his address, he adjusted the mic for the woman pradahan (head of village) who welcomed him on stage.
Reiterating the need to protect the girl child, an issue he has highlighted in his Independence Day speech in August, the PM said, “In some villages, when a girl is born, there is disappointment or trouble. Jayapur will welcome the arrival of daughters.”
The PM flew to Jayapur after stopping in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, through which the River Ganga flows. He urged the people of Varanasi to think of him as their “sevak” or servant.
Mr Modi wants all law-makers to adopt one village each from their constituencies as “a model village” by 2016, and add another two by 2019, and administer special attention to improving their infrastructure and sanitation. Jayapur is his choice.
This is the PM’s first trip to Varanasi since it voted over-whelmingly for him in his first run for parliament. He has vowed that his government will prioritize cleaning the Ganga, which is full of garbage and sewage and industrial effluent.
Mr Modi, who will spend the night at a guest-house, said he plans to meet with lots of Varanasi residents.
“I cannot learn about important issues from sitting among babus,” he said, referring to the bureaucrats based in Delhi.
One in six of Varanasi’s voters are Muslim, and Mr Modi’s decision to represent the 3,000-year-old city was based partly on shoring up the BJP’s support in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. The state will pick its next government in two years. The BJP is hoping to evict the ruling Samajwadi Party, whose young leader, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, greeted the PM when he landed in Varanasi this morning.
