Aaditya, Sachin clean Bandra fort, get praise from PM Modi

Mumbai: At a time when the Shiv Sena has been targeting BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded Yuva Sena chief, Aaditya Thackeray, for participating in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan at Bandra, along with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. 

The PM tweeted Tuesday morning, “I congratulate my young friend @AUThackeray for participating in a cleanliness initiative in Mumbai and adding momentum to #SwachhataHiSeva. Happy to see wide-scale participation by youngsters, including Arjun in #SwachhataHiSeva. Our Yuva Shakti will make a Swachh Bharat. The continued commitment of @sachin_rt towards @swachhbharat is deeply appreciated. People across India will be inspired by his efforts.”

At a time when the Sena has been consistently taking digs at the BJP government in the state and at the Centre, the PM’s tweet took everyone by surprise. The initiative had been taken by Tendulkar.

Tuesday morning, Mr Thackeray along with Mr Tendulkar went to Bandra fort to participate in the “Clean Mumbai” campaign. Mr Tendulkar wrote on his Twitter handle, “Thanks @AUThackeray for joining us Tuesday morning. With the support of our youth, we can not only achieve a SwachhBharat but also a SwasthBharat!” Mr Tendulkar thanked the PM for his encouragement.

Mr Thackeray tweeted in reply, “It was an honour to do my bit for our country, standing along you @sachin_rtji. Count me in each time. Agreed, Swasth Bharat! It is an honour to serve our country in the cleanliness drive, alongside@sachin_rtji before the break of dawn on Tuesday, at Bandra Fort. We did our bit by joining BMC staffers who keep our city clean everyday. The biggest service to our nation is taking care not to litter our cities. Plastic, thermocol causing biggest damage to city, realised once again.”