Sanitation will be an election issue in upcoming polls as people living in cities and towns will vote for those who vouch for hygiene and such a political implication will help in effective implementation of Centre’s ambitious ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has said.

The Urban Development Minister also exuded confidence that the NDA government will achieve all the stated objectives of the flagship programme, including making India open defecation free (ODF) by 2019. ... Modi had given a clarion call to make the Clean India campaign a mass movement.

Naidu stressed that behavior change towards using toilets and dumping waste in garbage bins is “key” to the mission’s success.