The newly appointed Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports and Minister of State for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Saturday showered praise on former Union sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore.
"A Soldier, 1st Indian to win Olympic Silver Medal to Sports Minister of India, you inspire millions. A salute to my friend Rathoreji. As a colleague, we will together fulfil the vision set by our leader Narendra Modi ji to take India to greater heights. Youths are our power," Kiren Rijiju said in a tweet.
Kiren Rijiju was replying to a tweet by Rajyavardhan Rathore who had said that he worked with an athlete's temperament to do his best for Indian sport.
It may be mentioned here that Rijiju, in the previous Narendra Modi-led NDA government, was Minister of State for Home. He took charge as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports and Minister of State for Minority Affairs on Friday.
It may be mentioned here that considered as the face of the BJP in the Northeast, Kiren Rijiju is a lawyer by qualification.
Kiren Rijiju won the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 from the Arunachal West seat. This was his second consecutive win from this constituency.
At a time when the BJP was trying to gain a stronghold in the Northeast, Rijiju was one of the aggressive campaigners for the party in the region.
Interestingly, Kiren Rijiju was also an athlete in his school days and has participated in the National Games. In the past, he has even expressed concerns about the low performance of Indian sportspersons as well as governance issues.
Identifying India's poor performance in competitive events, Kiren Rijiju said the key reasons behind this were mainly the non-integration of sports with education at school and college levels and lack of support in terms of high-performance coaches.
Rijiju has also advocated the implementation of sports promotional schemes across the country to identify and promote sportspersons, including women, in the age group of 8-25 years.
