From one pledge to another

VARANASI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sankalp (pledge) for ‘aviral and nirmal’ Ganga (uninterrupted and clean flow of the river) here on Saturday. Ganga is an issue close to Modi’s heart. “What else could the PM have pledged while performing Ganga pujan,” said priest Srikant Mishra who performed the rituals. This was Modi’s second pledge in Varanasi. The first one was taken at Kashi Vishwanath temple last year on December 20, the day he addressed his first election rally in the region. At that time, the pledge was ‘pradhan mantri pad ki kamana’ (the desire to become PM). Then, too, the priest was Srikant Mishra. “His first wish sankalp (read pradhan mantri pad ki kamana) has been fulfilled. Now, his second sankalp is to clean the Ganga,” Srikant Mishra said.