Vadodara, Sep 2026 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday praised residents of Gujarat’s Vadodara for transforming a city-wide cleanliness campaign into a broad public participation initiative ahead of his visit, and urged citizens to sustain the effort during the upcoming Ganesh festival, Navratri and Diwali celebrations.
Addressing a gathering at the ‘NaMo 4 Viksit Bharat’ programme at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Modi said he had watched videos of the cleanliness campaign and was impressed by the scale of participation across the city.
“I was watching a video yesterday. My chest swelled with pride -- wow, my Vadodara!” Modi said, referring to the cleanliness activities undertaken under the ‘Swachhata se Swagat’ campaign before his arrival.
The Prime Minister thanked residents for what he described as a “service-oriented” welcome and said the campaign had generated a strong cleanliness-focused atmosphere in households across Vadodara during the preceding week.
Modi connected the civic initiative with the city’s upcoming festive calendar, pointing out that preparations for Ganeshotsav and Navratri would soon begin, followed by Diwali. He expressed confidence that the collective spirit demonstrated through the cleanliness drive would continue during the festive season.
“I feel that when Ganeshji comes this time, all the blessings will shower on Vadodara,” he said.
Later, Modi called upon citizens to ensure that the cleanliness achieved through the campaign was not temporary but became part of the city’s everyday civic culture. Speaking in Gujarati, he urged residents not to allow Vadodara to return to its previous state after the intensive cleaning undertaken before his visit.
“Now let us resolve that we will not let Vadodara become dirty,” he said.
The cleanliness campaign was organised ahead of Modi’s September 8 programme in Vadodara, where he inaugurated and dedicated projects and laid foundation stones for development initiatives worth more than Rs 35,000 crore.
The Vadodara Municipal Corporation conducted a comprehensive cleanliness and environmental drive covering roads and public spaces, lakes, gardens, healthcare and childcare facilities, heritage locations and other water bodies.
The campaign brought together a wide cross-section of the city, including sanitation workers, residents, government officials, elected representatives, educational institutions and non-governmental organisations. The initiative was aimed not only at improving the city’s appearance ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit but also at encouraging citizens to take greater ownership of public spaces.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had highlighted the participation of sanitation workers and residents in cleaning roads, public areas and their surroundings. He also said that around 20 lakh saplings had been distributed as part of plantation and other environmental activities.
Modi acknowledged the contribution of sanitation workers and citizens, saying their participation had demonstrated how civic responsibility and cleanliness could themselves become a form of public welcome.
The campaign added a strong public-participation dimension to a programme otherwise centred on major infrastructure and development announcements. The Vadodara event featured the inauguration of the completed Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, new railway services and projects aimed at expanding railway capacity.
Several highway projects and Gujarat government initiatives in areas such as housing, water supply, urban development and renewable energy were also included in the programme.
For Vadodara, the civic campaign also preceded extensive arrangements for managing the large public gathering. The programme adopted a digitally managed entry system, with free registrations opened through BookMyShow.
Organisers said all available seats were booked within an hour, while more than 42,000 additional applicants were subsequently placed on a waiting list.
The strong response to the programme, combined with the city-wide cleanliness drive, provided a backdrop of public participation to Modi’s visit. The Prime Minister’s appeal was aimed at ensuring that the enthusiasm generated ahead of the event continues beyond his visit and becomes a sustained civic commitment across Vadodara.
