Amit Shah in Bengaluru: 'India should become top in sports by 2047'

While on his day-long visit to Bengaluru on Tuesday, May 3, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Union government intends to turn India into a “sporting nation”, and aims to rank among the top five countries in terms of sports by 2047 when the country celebrates its centenary year of independence.

He also said initiatives like Khelo India and Fit India were aimed at achieving the goal of India becoming a top sports nation. "We want India to be among the top five countries in terms of sports by 2047 when we celebrate 100 years of our independence," Shah said at the closing ceremony of the Khelo India University Games in Bengaluru, which saw the participation of 3,900 athletes from 208 universities from across India.

On Tuesday, Amit Shah began his Bengaluru visit by paying tribute to the bust and statue of 12th century social reformer, poet and Lingayat saint Basaveshwara on his birth anniversary.  The move is seen as a reach out to Lingayats, a dominant community in Karnataka who have significant presence across the state, and are considered as a strong vote bank of the ruling BJP ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls next year.

Shah was accompanied to Basaveshwara Circle — where he paid tribute to the bust of Basavanna — by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, state BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, party national General Secretary CT Ravi and several ministers of the state cabinet, among others.Ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls too, Shah, then as BJP national president had paid floral tributes to the same statue at Basaveshwara Circle, close to Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the state legislature and secretariat. Both Chief Minister Bommai and former CM BS Yediyurappa hail from the community.

Shah, who arrived in the city late on Monday night, attended various events and held a meeting at the state BJP office on Tuesday.

Shah's visit to the city comes amid buzz over possible changes in leadership in the state, and pressure to rejig or expand the cabinet ahead of the Assembly polls in 2023. However, the state in-charge of BJP Arun Singh clarified that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would continue in his post and that there are no immediate plans of changing the leadership.