The Sports Ministry on Thursday approved the names of Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli and ace weightlifter Shaikom Mirabai Chanu for this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honor. Awards will be conferred to them by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function in the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday. Both Kohli and Chanu will be presented with a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh each apart from a medal and a citation. The ministry also released the names of 20 Arjuna Awardees which includes Indian star cricketer Smriti Madhana, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and also para-athletes Ankur Dhamma and Manoj Sarkar.
However, star wrestler Bajrang Punia is miffed about not being nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and threatened to take legal actions against the ministry. Bajrang won two gold medals at this year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games. Besides this, he also won a bronze medal in the 2013 World Championships as well as silver medals in the 2014 edition of Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Bajrang was disappointed after being ignored for the highest sporting honor in the country, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, and is scheduled to meet Sports Minister Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore. “I’m really disappointed and shocked. I’m meeting Sports Minister tomorrow after Yogi Bhai (Yogeshwar Dutt) spoke to him and arranged a meeting. I just want to know why I’m being ignored. I want to know the reason,” he told the reporters. He also said that if he doesn’t get a favorable reply from the ministry then he will move the court.
“He said I didn’t have enough points which is wrong. I have garnered more points than the two (Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu) who were nominated. I have been wronged and I will seek justice”, Bajrang Punia said. However, he is unlikely to move the court after his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt advised him against it.
The sports ministry took to Twitter to clarify the standards for the selection process for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and said that different sports are judged by different parameters. “Point system is used to differentiate between athletes within the same sports, not athletes representing different sports”, Sports ministry tweeted. “Virat Kohli leads the ICC rankings in 2 out of 3 formats, while Mirabai Chanu is the only Indian currently a world champion in an Olympic sport”, the ministry clarified.
