Updated

Bangalore, Sep 23 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday appealed to the 1.25-billion Indians to join him in cleaning up the filth that has brought a bad name to the country.

"I want all of you to join me in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (operation clean-up) programme our government is launching across the country Thursday, marking the 99th birthday of Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya," Modi told a huge gathering of BJP cadres at HAL airport on arriving here for the first time after becoming prime minister.

Thanking the people of Karnataka, especially Bangaloreans, for voting the Bharatiya Janata Party to power with absolute majority and providing a stable government after three decades, Modi said he decided to rid the nation of filth with the help of citizens and make India a clean and safe country.

"I came here to beg you to spare 100 hours in a year, or two hours in a week, to clean up your dwelling, surroundings, locality (mohalla), city, town or village and maintain cleanliness so that none dare say our country is filthy or dirty," Modi said in Hindi during his 30-minute speech.

Exhorting the people to be hygienic and maintain cleanliness, the prime minister said though it was a tradition across India to spruce up homes, buildings, offices and shops to celebrate the festival of lights Diwali every year, the exercise should be continued throughout life to remain healthy, fresh and active.

"Though all citizens do not get an opportunity to serve the country by fighting on the borders or sacrifice lives as martyrs, we can serve the nation by joining the operation clean-up and liberate India from filth by 2018 as a tribute to the father of the nation (Mahatma Gandhi) on his 150th birth anniversary," Modi said.

Recalling his Independence Day address from the Red Fort in Delhi, where he urged people to take up the drive to clean up the country, Modi said critics wondered why he was giving importance to small things like cleanliness and keeping the house in order.

"I want to tell them (critics) that I will focus only on small things and activities that touch the lives of ordinary people than concentrate on big things or big people because I am a small man from a poor family and hence I want to empower the poor to make the country strong and resilient," he said.

The prime minister also lamented over poor sanitation conditions in cities and towns and expressed regret that even six decades after independence, thousands of homes and schools across India lacked toilets, especially for women and girls.

Earlier Report

Bangalore, Sep 23 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a two-day visit to Karnataka for the first time after assuming office, was Tuesday given a rousing welcome by thousands of people, including the BJP's state leaders and cadres, at the HAL airport.

Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Bangalore mayor S. Shantakumari were present as Modi arrived.

Soon after Modi emerged out of the special Indian Air Force aircraft, Vala and Siddaramaiah greeted him with garlands on the tarmac where a red carpet was rolled out.

The chief minister also draped Modi with a silk shawl and put the famous Mysore petha (headgear) on him in the presence of Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar and Minister of State for Civil Aviation G.M. Siddeshwara.

At a function held outside the military airport, the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit leaders, including lawmakers Prahlad Joshi and B.S. Yeddyurappa and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, felicitated Modi with a huge garland made of cardamom, a silk shawl and crowned him with a king's headgear.

After addressing in Hindi a huge gathering of party cadres and supporters for about 30 minutes, Modi drove to Raj Bhavan for an overnight stay.

On Wednesday, Modi will visit the mission control centre at the Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to witness the insertion of the interplanetary spacecraft into the Martian orbit.

"As Modi is also in charge of the space department, he has expressed keen interest to witness the historic event when the spacecraft (Orbiter) enters the Martian orbit in its maiden attempt," a space official told IANS.

Though the orbit insertion exercise begins at 4.17 a.m., the prime minister will be at the mission control centre from 6.45 a.m. to watch the crucial operation when the spacecraft main engine will be fired at 7.17 a.m. to carry the Orbiter through the region to enter the Martian orbit by 7.53 a.m.," the official said.

As command signals to the spacecraft and signals from it to the mission control centre take 12.5 minutes each way, confirmation about its insertion into the orbit will be known by 8.15 a.m.

ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishanan and scientists of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will brief Modi about the operations.

Modi will also inaugurate Wednesday a mega integrated food park at Koravahalli near Tumkur, about 70 km from here, and address a gathering, which will include about 5,000 farmers and 10,000 BJP workers.

The prime minister will also visit the Siddaganga Mutt in Tumkur to seek the blessings of its 106-year-old pontiff Shivakumara Swamji and return to Bangalore Wednesday afternoon to fly back to New Delhi.