CM Sai Revives Sports Award Function, BJP To Showcase It In LS Polls To Woo Youth
The Vishnu Deo Sai government on Thursday revived a state-level sports award function, stopped half-a-decade ago, paving the way for ruling BJP to woo youths ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, due in April-May.
The ‘Rajya Khel Alankaran Samaroh- 2024’ was held here after a gap of five years where chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai honoured 544 sportspersons from Chhattisgarh who have excelled in various sports at the state, national and international levels.
The annual sports award giving function, introduced during the Raman Singh government in 2007 in honour of security personnel martyred in the counter insurgency operations in Bastar in Chhattisgarh, was stopped when Congress came to power in the state in 2018.
The decision by the previous Congress government to discontinue the function had triggered widespread resentment among youths in the state who had taken to streets demanding its revival.
The sportspersons from Chhattisgarh who excel at the national and international level are being honoured under different categories of awards, named after police officers martyred in the anti-Naxal operations Bastar, at the function.
Those honoured with the Martyr Rajiv Pandey award are declared eligible for sports quota in government jobs.
“As many as 74 sportspersons have so far been absorbed in government jobs. The remaining sportspersons found eligible for sports quota will soon be given government jobs”, state sports and youth welfare minister Tank Ram Verma said.
Addressing the function, Mr Sai expressed regret over the absence of such ceremonies under the previous government’s tenure.
“The discontinuance of such an important function during the previous Congress government had triggered disappointment among the youths in the state”, he said.
Sources said that BJP is set to showcase the revival of the event in the upcoming LS elections to woo the young voters to support the party in the polls.
There are around 18 lakh voters aged 18-22 years in Chhattisgarh.
“The youths had hit the streets in protest against the discontinuance of the function during the previous Congress government in the state. The Vishnu Deo Sai government has reinstated the event following demand by the youths”, former chief minister Dr Raman Singh who is now speaker of Chhattisgarh Assembly said, while addressing the function.
