India won an unprecedented 7 medals at the Tokyo Olympics, its highest haul ever, eclipsing the 6 medals at the London Olympics. The athletes put their heart and soul into the competition to earn the elusive medals and they became an overnight sensation. As such, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has taken it upon itself to alter the sporting scene of India, and was present all along to encourage and congratulate athletes and instill them with confidence and motivation. Prime Minister Modi made personal phone calls to the team to keep their spirits up, filling a leadership void that we never knew was there. The scenes were heartwarming. There was happiness, excitement and there were also tears. PM Modi said to the athletes what the entire country wanted to say.
However, a few usual suspects of the left-liberal cabal, drenched in their hatred for one man, wasted no time to connect the phone calls to politics. The abhorrent style of left politics even led Neeraj Chopra, our first Olympic gold medallist in 13 years, to be cancelled by the liberal lobby.
Perpetually miffed, Ajit Anjum, still cussing PM Modi for losing his job, took to Twitter and dubbed the latter’s phone call with Neeraj Chopra, a publicity stunt. While taking a dig at the PM Anjum tweeted in Hindi, “Congratulating on speaker phone — country’s super speaker. No opportunity shall go waste for publicity”
स्पीकर फोन पर बधाई देते देश के सुपर स्पीकर
पब्लिसिटी का कोई मौका छूट न जाए pic.twitter.com/MErWwQ1dN4— Ajit Anjum (@ajitanjum) August 7, 2021
Similarly, Twitter justice warrior and part-time journalist Swati Chaturvedi, infamous for writing op-eds launching and re-launching the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, made some startling observations and patted her own back for it.
Swati claimed that she had predicted that PM Modi will call Neeraj. Of course, PM Modi was going to call Neeraj, for he had called every single athlete before him that had won a medal and even the Women’s hockey team that came agonizingly close to one.
Yeh toh hona hi tha. As predicted pic.twitter.com/2THRCTnVfo
— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) August 7, 2021
Moving on, Abhisar Sharma, one of the rare journalists who spends more time loitering in the DMs of online netizens venting out his anger through a myriad of expletives, rather than reporting anything substantial, could not digest PM Modi’s contribution in Neeraj’s journey. He said, Baksh do yaar. Koi to had hogi is chatukarita ki? Is mauke par to sirf neeraj ko shrey de do? Ajab pliant praani hai yaar.”
बक्श दो यार। कोई तो हद होगी इस चाटूकारिता की ? इस मौके पर तो सिर्फ नीरज को श्रेय दे दो ? अजब pliant प्राणी हो यार। https://t.co/oUozLvuHmR
— Abhisar Sharma (@abhisar_sharma) August 7, 2021
Other left establishment troll accounts also took the opportunity to push their vested agendas and targeted the PM for a seemingly innocuous call.
https://twitter.com/Nher_who/status/1424024709998407681?s=19
So called freelance Journalist Samriddhi K Sakunia tweeted, “#NeerajChopra alone deserves the credit (ofc his coach as well) nobody else. That’s it! Please. #Tokyo2020”
#NeerajChopra alone deserves the credit (ofc his coach as well) nobody else.
That's it! Please. #Tokyo2020
— Samriddhi K Sakunia (@Samriddhi0809) August 7, 2021
Another so called tech journalist Abhishek baxi tweeted, “Someone tell him that unlike him, we’re not interested in his phone calls.”
Someone tell him that unlike him, we're not interested in his phone calls. https://t.co/H6HEz1bZ62
— Abhishek Baxi (@baxiabhishek) August 7, 2021
While leftists were having a meltdown and targeting PM Modi for allegedly putting up a show by calling the medallists, they forgot to perceive that for the first time, there was a PM who was concerned about the wellbeing of sportspersons.
Before the Olympic delegation left for Tokyo, the PM held an interaction with the athletes and assured them that the government and the country were behind them. But of course, the liberal lobby failed to notice the said interaction.
PM Modi ahd said “When you reach such a level at the big stage, expectations are obviously there from you. The country is confident that you will make the nation proud at the upcoming Games.” He had interacted with archer Deepika Kumari, tennis star Sania Mirza, table tennis player Manika Batra, sprinter Dutee Chand among others.
PM Narendra Modi interacts with Indian athletes’ contingent bound for #TokyoOlympics. Union Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur, MoS Nisith Pramanik & Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also present. pic.twitter.com/mTbETk01sM
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2021
Leftists who are miffed at PM Modi’s call to the athletes should understand the importance of the call from former Olympian Anju Bobby George who heaped praise on the Modi government for its contribution towards the success of the athletes of the country. She stated, “Our Indian government is giving much priority (to the athletes). The Prime Minister is directly calling them after winning the medals. No one wants to leave”.
She added, “This is for the first time that it is happening like that. During our time, even our Sports Minister was a visitor in Olympic village. Even after winning the World Championship medal, India celebrated in a big way but the Ministry side was nothing big. Yes, the Prime Minister (referring to the then PM Manmohan Singh) congratulated me, otherwise, nothing was there. This time, even before the games, the Prime Minister is calling the athletes, interacting with them one to one, and encouraging them. Something big is happening in India. I am really missing out on fun and opportunities,”
This Tokyo Olympics, India sent its biggest ever delegation with 126 Olympians and many big names as well as the underdogs, nearly snaffled up a medal.
The reason could primarily boil down to more cogent involvement of authorities, creation of an impressive sporting environment but most importantly, the government funding, which has vastly improved over the years.
FYI,
Khelo India budget
FY 16 – 97.52 crore rupees
FY 20 – 890.92 crore rupees
Ninefold increase in four years!!
And there are despicable people who argue that the government has nothing to do this success.
Well, no success comes free of cost!!
— Amit Agrahari (@Amit_Agrahari94) August 7, 2021
Through the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) and Target Olympic Podium Scheme, or the TOPS, the two flagship government sports schemes, aimed at nurturing and polishing the Olympic dreams of the country, the government has ensured that athletes and their training are well looked after.
TOPS was initiated by the Modi government in 2014. After the debacle of the Rio Olympics, the government has spent Rs 1,200 crore alone on athletes according to the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Mirabai Chanu, who also talked to PM Modi on phone, before the Olympics began had received funding of Rs 51.51 lakhs towards out-of-pocket allowance, equipment and training support, participation in international competitions and sports science assistance.
Moreover, as stated by Birendra Prasad — President of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, TOPS funded the recovery and rehabilitation program of Mirabai twice to be carried out in the United States of America, costing more than Rs. 1.3 crore, according to a report by The Bridge.
When the coronavirus pandemic was wreaking havoc last year and strict rules of quarantine meant that Mirabai could not train at the Patiala training centre, the then Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju jumped in for a rescue act and ensured that Mirabai was sent to the United States for a training camp, so that she reaches Tokyo fully prepared and confident.
Although India failed to win any medals in shooting despite it being regarded as a sure-shot prospect, the government left no stone unturned to help the players. The entire shooting contingent was airlifted to Croatia to practice unfettered before the Olympics began.
However, the biggest development towards improvement of the sporting scene in India has been the “Khelo India” programme. The official website of the programme states that it has been introduced to “revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.”
The programme has worked wonders for India. It was launched with a budget of Rs. 97.52 crore. By Financial Year 2020, it went through a nine-fold increase and reached a whopping Rs. 890.92 crore.
India has made giant strides in the sporting arena in the last few years under the Modi government. However, it is not to say that all is rosy and that athletes do not have to face troubles. It is a slow process and to undo the wrong of over 70 years takes time.
However, when the country’s top leader takes active role in assessing the condition of its players, one can be assured that we will be reaching the double figure mark in Olympics, which can certainly happen in three years’ time, in Paris. And the naysayers to PM Modi’s phone call to athletes can continue to twiddle their thumbs on the echo chambers of Twitter.
