Mahatma Gandhi's cleanliness mantra has been taken forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Chief Minister Vijay Rup here on Wednesday while speaking on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
He also added that every Gujarati is proud of the PM, "the son of Gujarat".
"We all are here today at Sabarmati Riverfront where Mahatma Gandhi established Sabarmati Ashram and gave a new turn to the freedom of our country and today he is known as the saint of this ashram," Rup said at the event.
"Bapu also gave a mantra of cleanliness to everyone and he believed that cleanliness is even more important than freedom. Our Prime Minister took this mantra forward by launching a cleanliness campaign which became a giant mass campaign," Rup further stated during the event, which had Modi in attendance.
"Years after we attained independence, the people who used to rule in the governance of Mahatma Gandhi forgot his principles and ideologies but then we got a Prime Minister who himself took a broom in his hand and took Gandhi Ji's cleanliness mantra forward. Every Gujarati is proud of this fact that a son of Gujarat took the dream of another Gujarat's son and a great freedom fighter, Mahatma Gandhi forward," he added.
Rup further said that cleanliness is followed as a value in Gujarat and the entire nation has become open defecation free today.
A short movie on cleanliness was also shown to the gathering in the event today. The clip featured several cleanliness schemes and initiatives taken by Modi.
( With inputs from ANI )