Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin is set to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on January 4 to invite him to Khelo India Youth Games to be held in Tamil Nadu this month. Addressing the reporters, Udhayanidhi Stalin said that it was the first time Khelo India Youth Games would be held in Tamil Nadu. The event would be held from January 19 to 31, he said adding that he would invite PM Modi for the event.
"I am going to invite him; to participate or not is his wish," he said, as per a report on PTI.
Udhayanidhi, who also serves as the Minister for Youth Welfare, expressed confidence that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would allocate funds to the state after her visit to Tamil Nadu to assess the damage caused by rains and floods in Thoothukudi and nearby southern regions.
He mentioned that the DMK youth wing's state conference is expected to take place in Salem before the end of January. A formal announcement regarding the conference would be made by the party president and Chief Minister, M K Stalin, as stated by Udhayanidhi, the party's youth wing secretary.
The previous editions of the Games were hosted in Delhi, Pune, Guwahati, Panchkula, and Bhopal.
The Khelo India Youth Games 2024 are set to commence on January 19 and will be hosted in four cities in Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Trichy. Anticipating the participation of over 5,000 athletes, the competition is scheduled to extend until January 31. In a notable addition to the 2024 edition, a martial arts discipline has been included as an exhibition sport for the first time. Silambam, a form of Indian martial arts, will be featured in this capacity during the games.