Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi (centre), BJP president Rajnath Singh (right) and party leader Amit Shah (right) watch evening rituals being performed on the banks of the Ganga river in Varanasi on Saturday, May 17, 2014. (AP Photo) Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi (centre), BJP president Rajnath Singh (right) and party leader Amit Shah (right) watch evening rituals being performed on the banks of the Ganga river in Varanasi on Saturday, May 17, 2014. (AP Photo)

Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi on Saturday said he wanted to clean up the country and planned to do this by starting from Varanasi, the constituency that elected him as its MP by a huge margin in the Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking on the banks of the Ganga river in Varanasi, Modi asked people to support him in his endeavour. "By 2019, when we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we should have cleaned up the country," Modi said.

Riding on Modi's popularity, the BJP created history by coming to power with an absolute majority in Parliament after a gap of 30 years. The last time that a party won a majority in Parliament was in 1984, when Rajiv Gandhi led Congress to a 402-seat victory.

Modi said that cleaning up the country would change its landscape. "We have to clean India and have to begin from Varanasi. People must be thinking why is this person talking of garbage? But that can change India," he said after offering prayers to the holy river.

"Cleaning our surroundings is also a way of serving Mother India. It's with small chores that big goals are accomplished," he said, adding that the people must ensure that "Kashi (Varanasi) should not remain dirty".