Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan get pat on back from PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan for their contribution to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Mr. Modi appreciated the efforts of the duo through his official account on mirco-blogging site Twitter.

Well done @ImRaina & Shikhar Dhawan! I welcome this effort towards a Clean India! #MyCleanIndia http://t.co/7UncnAHKdw — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 20, 2014

The Indian Prime Minister on November 8 nominated Suresh Raina, along with Mohammad Kaif – who recently won a Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket – for the campaign during a two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.

The left-hander said he was honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to join the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and confirmed his participation in PM's cleanliness initiative through his official account on micro-blogging site Twitter. Raina, who at the time was part of the Indian team playing an ODI series against Sri Lanka, said he would participate in the cleanliness drive in his home state of Uttar Pradesh after the series ended.

Honoured to be nominated by @PMOIndia for #SwachhtaAbhiyaan Will take up the endeavour as soon as I'm in UP after ODI series — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 8, 2014

Cleanliness is a reflection of our Civilization. It has started as a dream but we should all make it our own mission. @PMOIndia — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 8, 2014

The celebrated Indian middle-order batsman helped clean some parts of his home-town Ghaziabad on Wednesday with locals. Raina then promptly posted pictures of his effort on Twitter describing the PM's Swachh Bharath Abhiyan as a 'synonym of patriotism'.

Swatcch Bharat abhiyaan is a synonym of patriotism. Feel elated at having completed my challenge. Thanks @PMOIndia — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

Raina also took the opportunity to nominate Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Saina Nehwal, Shreya Ghosal, Sonu Nigam, Rajiv Shukla, Anirudha Srikkanth and PR Sreejesh for the cleanliness drive.

I nominate my teammates PK, RP, Piyush. Srijesh, Saina Nehwal ,Shreya Ghosal, Sonu Nigam, Rajiv Shukla, Srikant — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

pic.twitter.com/IIHFLX7lzZ

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

pic.twitter.com/BdCKDFS1tN — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

pic.twitter.com/lmTx9NmfaD — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

The PM's Swachh Bharath Abhiyan has come under criticism as some of his colleagues appeared to have participated in the mission for photo-ops. Several photographs have appeared of politicians and ministers sweeping already clean areas. However, Raina took no chances and posted pictures of “before” and “after” of the area.

Before pic.twitter.com/8Bq6swVM68

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

After pic.twitter.com/UoNb7GDTml — Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) November 19, 2014

Raina's teammate Shikhar Dhawan too joined the cleanliness drive and took up the broom in his home state of Delhi.