Swachh New York

New York enjoys civic standards of which Indian city planners can only dream. But that didn't deter Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) workers from following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lead on October 2. According to a press statement, BJP supporters and leaders undertook a "clean city public awareness campaign" in midtown Manhattan. The group got themselves photographed with brooms that didn't seem to have suffered much wear and tear. The men and women who took part in the alleged cleaning of New York's streets were also suitably dressed for a regular work day, instead of betraying any intent to undertake any frenetic physical activity like cleaning the streets. "What the Modi-led Indian government and citizens are doing in India & elsewhere, we are replicating and spreading awareness of this programme for clean environment in the US," said BJP leader Vijay Jolly, with little trace of irony. Jolly is the leader who set new standards in lumpen behaviour when he vandalised the sign outside Tehelka editor Shoma Chaudhury's house late last year.