Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to social media on Monday to showcase how dirty Varanasi was, asking if this was Swachh Bharat.
He did not name Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, but there were ample other taunts at the prime minister who has often promised to transform the holy city into a Kyoto-like smart city.
Sharing a picture of a trashed road in Varanasi, Akhilesh Yadav questioned the city’s cleanliness and urged people not to mistake the street for a garbage dump. Yadav also asked about the status of PM Modi’s pet project, the Swachh Bharat initiative, in his post.
“This is the state of the country’s prime parliamentary constituency,” Akhilesh posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Don’t mistake the road for a garbage dump. Is this ‘Swachh Bharat’?”
In his post, he continued to target Prime Minister Modi: “Varanasi did not become Kyoto, neither is it what it used to be,” he wrote.
“I hope this place will be cleaned by tomorrow after this post is published. The BJP government does not work, it is the Opposition that makes it work,” he added in his post, written in Hindi.
The SP leader claimed that residents were turning to the Opposition to address basic issues like cleanliness.
During several visits to Varanasi, PM Modi had promised to transform the city into a Kyoto-like smart city, drawing comparisons between the two holy cities. Both Varanasi and Kyoto are ancient cities with spiritual significance, and each has a river running through it.
While BJP leaders often tout the redevelopment efforts in Varanasi, the reality on the ground tells a different story. As reported earlier by The Telegraph during the Lok Sabha election campaign, many parts of the city, like the Malin Basti in Nagwa, remain neglected. Poor sanitation, squalor, and government indifference plague the Dalit-majority area near the BHU campus, — a stark contrast to the promises of a ‘smart city’.