Sanitation will be an election issue in upcoming polls as people living in cities and towns will vote for those who vouch for hygiene and such a political implication will help in effective implementation of Centre’s ambitious Swachchh Bharat Mission, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has said.

The urban development minister also exuded confidence that the NDA government will achieve all the stated objectives of the flagship programme, including making India open defecation free (ODF) by 2019.

“Sanitation is becoming an issue with the people. As we go along, it will become a political and even election issue. Citizens in urban areas will vote for those who ensure hygiene.

“I am sure political parties who know how to garner votes will factor this in their calculations. These political implications will drive the success of this important mission,” Mr Naidu told PTI in an interview.

Interestingly, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), an NDA constituent, earlier this week had announced formation of ‘Swachh Abhiyan Samiti’ within the party to push the agenda of the programme, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi two years ago.

Mr Modi had given a clarion call to make the Clean India campaign a mass movement. Mr Naidu stressed that behavior change towards using toilets and dumping waste in garbage bins is “key” to the mission’s success.

To a question, Mr Naidu sought to allay apprehension that the government may miss the deadline of achieving the goal of making India ODF, saying the stated objectives of the Mission will “surely” be attained.

He said the Centre has managed to attain 35 per cent of the target of constructing individual household toilets during 40 per cent of the mission period, suggesting that implementation of the programme is on-track.

Buttressing his claim, Mr Naidu said 22.97 lakh individual household toilets have been built in urban areas since the mission’s launch as against the stated target of constructing 66.42 lakh toilets.