Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently hosted India’s young chess players at his official residence over their heroic feat at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest as both the men’s and women’s teams clinched their maiden gold medals. Vantika Agarwal, one of the Chess Olympiad winners, on Thursday recalled her story of meeting the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2012 and how his words left her deeply inspired.
Vantika also said she was elated that PM Modi remembered her birthday. “My birthday was on September 20 and PM sir remembered it. I couldn’t believe he remembered my birthday. When I was 9, he organised a mega event in Gujarat. At that time, I had won two gold medals in the Asian Championships.” “I was felicitated by Narendra Modi ji. It was only then I decided to keep giving my blood and sweat to bring laurels to the nation,” she said. Modi Archive, a popular handle on X, has shared the video.
It also shared an old photograph of the then 9-year-old Vantika Agrawal and her note in which she wrote, ‘Thank you, sir, for motivating me to reach this height.’ The popular handle in an earlier post highlighted PM Modi’s passion for the game as he met the Indian men’s and women’s teams. During his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2009, he made chess a mandatory subject in schools in the Ahmedabad district. He plans to expand this initiative statewide in the following years.
In 2012, to commemorate Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary, the Gujarat Chief Minister organized ‘Swami Vivekananda Mahila Chess Mahotsav’, a tournament aimed at breaking stereotypes. More than 3,500 women chess players and more than 1,250 Divyangjans participated in the tournament.
–IANS
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