India's wrestler Babita Phogat demanded change in the name of India's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, saying that the award should be named after a sportsperson and not after a former Prime Minister.
"Khel Ratna Award has been named after Rajiv Gandhi's name. If it was in the name of some athlete, instead of his name, we would have felt more proud. We have so many Olympic medallists and World champions," Phogat told ANI.
"If it was in the name of some sportsperson, then the athletes also would have felt more pride in receiving it, they would have felt more motivated," she added.
Phogat and her father Mahavir, who had inspired the Hindi film Dangal, had joined the BJP last year.
President Ram Nath Kovind virtually conferred the National Sports and Adventure Award 2020 on August 29th -- hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand's 115th birth anniversary.
Star cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis player Manika Batra, Rio Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu and women's hockey captain Rani Rampal were among an unprecedented five picked for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna this year, while another unparalleled 29 were recommended for the Arjuna award by the sports ministry's selection committee
