“The Painganga to Nalganga project will be started this year between Nagpur and Wardha. Due to this project, 10 lakh acres of land will come under irrigation. An investment of Rs 1 lakh crore will be made in this project. It will benefit the farmers of Wardha as well as the entire Vidarbha,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “The logistics park built between Wardha and Nagpur will give impetus to development. In the game of Kabaddi, one has to enter the opponents’ field and beat them and then return to one's own field. In the same way, PM Narendra Modi has responded to Pakistan’s attack on Pahalgam in Kashmir,” he said. He was speaking at the prize distribution ceremony during the final match of the Devabhau National Kabaddi Competition organised under the joint aegis of Vidarbha Kabaddi Association and All India Amateur Kabaddi Federation.

 

Former Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel presided over the function. Former MP Ramdas Tadas, Minister Pratap. Sarnaik, Ashok Uike, District Guardian Minister Dr Pankaj Bhoyar, MLA Sameer Kunawar, MLA Sumit Wankhede, MLA Rajesh Bakane, former MLA Sagar Meghe, Upendra Kotheker, Adv Sudhir Kothari, organising committee’s Pradeep Singh Thakur, Amit Singh Thakur, Sudhir Dive, Nilesh Kite, former City President Shobha Tadas, Milind Bhende, Ganesh Ikhar were present on the stage. The programme started with worshiping the statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, lighting of traditional lamp and bhoomipujan. “Kabaddi is our traditional game. It has a mention in Mahabharata also. This game does not cost much. But it requires agility, unity and solidarity. 27 teams of young men and women from all over the country participated in the competition.

 

I congratulate the members of every team,” said Fadnavis. Former MP Ramdas Tadas said that as soon as Fadnavis became CM of the State for the first time, he increased the remuneration of players. He demanded to build an indoor stadium with residential facilities for 100 players in Wardha. Former Union Minister Praful Patel said that the country has got able leadership under the leadership of Narendra Modi. “We have given a befitting reply to Pakistan by entering its territory. I congratulate the players participating in this competition. There is a need to give priority to sports like Kabaddi. Efforts should be made to organise the sports competition of our country in the Olympics,” he said. Guardian Minister Dr Pankaj Bhoyar said that he assured to organise such Kabaddi competitions in every district as well as every tehsil of the State.He demanded from Football Federation President Praful Patel to build a grand football stadium in the city. For the final match and prize distribution ceremony of the competition, actors, producer, director and the entire team of ‘Kesari Veer’ movie were present on the stage. Sunil Shetty, Sooraj Pancholi, Akanksha Sharma, Rakesh Kothare, Bhavya Gandhi (Tappu Sena fame) and other actors were present on the stage. They were the main attraction for the citizens present. Some girls came with actor Sunil Shetty’s photo.

 

They presented that photo to him on the stage. The girls also presented the photo to CM Fadnavis. Sunil Shetty was welcomed by presenting him a mace by the organising committee. Total 27 men’s and 27 women’s teams took part in the event. The final match in the men’s group was played between Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh’s team emerged victorious in the event. Delhi’s team came second, Arunachal Pradesh third and Jammu & Kashmir’s team came fourth. In the women’s event, Haryana came first and West Bengal came second, Jharkhand came third and Telangana came fourth. Prizes were distributed to the winning and runner-up teams by the guests present. Along with this, Man of the Match and other individual awards were given to the players of both events.