Maharashtra Chief Minister Devandra Fadnavis’ remarkable candour won him more admirers at a packed Crystal Room of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel on Tuesday evening. The 46-year-old four-time MLA from Nagpur did not mince words after presenting big silverware, and even bigger cheques, to the Rio Olympic Games silver medalist in the women’s singles badminton, P.V. Sindhu and her coach P. Gopichand.
After the likes of Gopichand, Sindhu, the president of the Maharashtra Badminton Association Arun Lakahni and state sports minister Vinod Tawde had shared their thoughts on the way sports is looked upon by the Indian society, the Chief Minister ticked off the state governments of the past 16 years saying: “Only on the rarest of rare occasions, sports has been discussed in the Assembly for the last 16 years. We have to go beyond felicitations and passing resolutions. We have to introspect, reflect and do something for sport. We have decided that Maharashtra sportspersons must win medals at the 2020 Olympics.’’
It was a momentous evening when the State opened its heart and purse in a big way to its own who qualified for the Rio Olympics, but lost in the first round, quarter-final and someone like Lalita Babar who finished 10th in the 3000m women’s steeplechase event.
The Chief Minister hailed Sindhu as the “super star” who made a billion-plus Indians proud. He referred to Gopichand’s speech and said, “It was an eye-opener. He touched upon improving physical literacy. We need many Gopichands to bring about many champions like Sindhus.’’
