Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Khel Mahakumbh at TransStadia Arena at Kankaria in Ahmedabad last week. Speaking on the occasion, Modi said that he wants to promote sports culture in India. “We have planned the Khel India (India Plays) initiative across the country,” he said. “I am really impressed that around 3000,000 people were associated with the Khel Mahkumbh in 2016. I wish many more will come forward this year.” Earlier, Modi inaugurated TransStadia, an integrated sports and entertainment arena at Kankaria in Ahmedabad.
Modi praised sportspersons such as Srikanth Kidambi - who recently won the Australian Super Series badminton crown - and Gujarat cricketer Parthiv Patel. He said they demonstrated excellence in their fields. He also hailed paralympian Deepa Malik, saying that she has shown what self-confidence can achieve.
The Khel Mahakumbh was incubated in 2010 by Modi, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. The objective of the event is to create a culture of sports, foster health and fitness, and establish a platform for identifying talent at the grass roots level. Modi said he was pleased that Gujarat has been doing well in sports too. “I am happy that the uniqueness of the Khel Mahakumbh is the integration of the talent-identification process for urban and rural areas,” he said.
The Prime Minster expressed satisfaction that India has been improving in every sport. We have been doing well in cricket, he said. When the under-17 Fifa World Cup is held in India this October, we hope to do well in that game as well. Modi said he was happy that girls have been doing much better than boys. Hailing the achievement of TransStadia Arena, Modi said that it was indeed a matter of pride that the stadium has developed into a world class centre. Gujarat chief minster Vijay Rupani said on the occasion that the stadium has come up because of Modi's vision.
TransStadia Arena consists of a football stadium and also courts for other games such as volleyball, basketball, badminton, basketball, squash, table tennis, tennis and few more. Supporting the event with their presence were India's sports superstars and legends - ace badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, Olympians Srikanth Kidambi, Gagan Narang, Sushil Kumar; Paralympian Deepa Malik; Kabaddi captain Anup Kumar, ex-Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia and Indian cricketers IrfanPathan, Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat.
