Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday the Bharatiya Janata Party did not believe in vote bank politics as the country was above party politics.
On the second day of his visit to his Varanasi parliamentary constituency, Modi told a gathering that he had launched a major war against corruption and the corrupt to ease the life of the common man.
“Governance for us is not about votes or winning elections. The priority is the development of the nation. For us, the country is bigger than party,” he said, in his address to farmers in Shahanshahpur on the outskirts of Varanasi.
He said most of the problems faced by the common people in India were rooted in corruption.
“I have launched a war against it and will take it further to ensure that graft is weeded out from the country.”
Modi urged the people to also ensure that the mission for cleanliness gets their support.
He said it was his good fortune to lay the foundation stone of a public toilet in Shahanshahpur village “because sanitation is also a kind of worship for me.”
“It will rid the poor of my country of various diseases and the economic burden due to those diseases that result from dirty surroundings. Hundreds of diseases come knocking at your doorsteps because of lack of hygiene.” 
He quoted a Unicef report that each household in India which does not have a toilet spends around Rs50,000 a year on treatment for different ailments.
“It is the responsibility of every citizen and every family to keep their surroundings clean so we are able to build clean villages, clean cities and a clean nation,” Modi said.