Swachh Bharat: PM Modi stops by police station for surprise cleanliness check

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took everyone by surprise today when he stopped by Mandir Marg police station in the heart of the national capital to check how clean the premises were and even swept the litter dropped in its parking area.

After paying tributes at the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries, Modi was on his way to Valmiki Basti, a colony of sanitation workers here, when he asked his cavalcade to stop by the police station.

As the Prime Minister walked in, the police personnel at the station and even those accompanying him were taken by surprise. Most of the personnel were deputed for security arrangements for the 'Clean India' inauguration event at Rajpath but a few who were present were startled to find the Modi among them.

"The Prime Minister spent around 15 minutes at the Police Station and inspected its premises. He spoke to some cops about the importance of cleanliness and exhorted them to keep things neat and tidy. When he came across a dirty area inside the Police Station campus, he wield the broom and swept it," a senior police official said, adding he was joined by policemen too.

Modi then reached Valmiki Basti where he swept a pavement before the formal launch of the 'Clean India' drive at Rajpath.

After the event, Modi tweeted, "Today I joined the Clean India Campaign at Mandir Marg Police Station in Delhi. #MyCleanIndia".

He also tweeted two pictures, the first showed him cleaning the Police Station premises with a broom captioned - 'Why Clean India' picture.

The second picture showed the area completely clean with the caption - 'My Clean India' Picture #MyCleanIndia.