In its manifesto released ahead of the upcoming Assembly Elections in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that they are aiming to bring the Olympic Games to the state.
Released by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, BJP national president JP Nadda, and state party president CR Paatil, the manifesto says that the party would put special emphasis on the Gujarat Olympics Mission to create world-class sports infrastructure in a bid to secure hosting rights for the Summer Olympics in 2036.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur was in Gujarat on Sunday to campaign for the BJP and spoke to reporters at the state party headquarters.
"Not only will we be able to host the Olympics, we will organise a grand Olympics games in future," said Thakur, when asked about the preparedness of Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar to host the biggest international event in sports.
The International Olympic Committee is expected to announce the winning bid for the 2036 edition of the Games between 2025 and 2029.
Citing the example of the recently-concluded National Games in the state, Thakur added: "With just three months of preparation, Gujarat hosted what I feel is the best National Games so far....the Sardar Patel Sports Complex (coming up beside the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium) will have facilities for 22 sports events and the Naranpura sports complex too is coming up."
The Gujarat Assembly Elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.
