Varanasi, Sep 17 (IANS): On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on Thursday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ in Varanasi, while hailing the ‘success stories’ of PM Modi’s journey from a small village in Gujarat’s Vadnagar to “one of the most successful” world leaders.
The campaign is being organised to mark PM Modi’s 25 years in public service, including his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Chirag Paswan and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu were also present at the event.
CM Adityanath mentioned that as part of the campaign, a 20-day bike ‘yatra’ will be undertaken from Kashi to Vadnagar, where every participating youth will also take part in several programmes.
Recalling that PM Modi had taken a pledge as Gujarat CM on Oct 7, 2001, he said: “Since then, he has been serving the nation with hard work and dedication. Today, his glorious years of public service have enabled us to witness a new India, one which we can be proud of. Today, India is safe and has prepared itself to take on the world.”
Highlighting that Vadnagar is the birthplace of PM Modi, CM Adityanath said that 10 ‘yatras’ will start from Varanasi, where the participants will carry the holy water of the sacred rivers of Kashi and reach Vadnagar’s Hatkeshwar Mahadev Temple through different routes.
Similarly, the holy water from rivers in Gujarat will be carried by the participants of the ‘yatra’ and offered at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple here, he mentioned.
“This campaign will be underway till October 7, 2026,” the UP CM added.
He said: “Today the world is also witnessing the journey of PM Modi, from a small village in Gujarat to one of the most famous Prime Ministers of India, who is also counted among prominent global leaders today.”
“Every Indian has been a part of PM Modi’s years in public service in some way or the other. The success of his journey can be visible in villages which didn’t have proper houses or electricity since independence, but the same has been made available with various schemes launched by the Prime Minister,” he claimed.
Further, CM Adityanath said: “This ‘yatra’ is for those women who earlier could not access toilets within their houses and also for those youths who couldn’t land jobs without bribery.”
“This is a story of those 60 crore Indians who can avail health cover up to Rs 5 lakhs under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. PM Modi’s journey also reflects in the lives of those youth who turned job creators from job seekers with the introduction of the startup ecosystem,” he noted
The Chief Minister said that apart from welfare schemes, this journey also highlights ‘Digital India’ and the infrastructural development of roadways, railways and modern technology like semiconductor units.
“Today, India is working in the fields of AI, quantum computing, drone technology and robotics. Moreover, today the nation is not counted among the bottom five economies but rather among the top four,” he said.
He further said that Kashi Vishwanath Dham, construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya after 500 years, and the hosting of Kumbh Mela — “are all visions of new India”.
“Whether garnering global recognition to Yoga or UNESCO recognition to Kumbh Mela, all these are success stories of PM Modi’s journey that is being witnessed by the world today,” CM Adityanath emphasised.
