Amit Shah arrives in Raipur; to attend Bastar Olympic closing ceremony in Jagdalpur on Dec 13

Raipur, Dec 12 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived here on Friday night to attend the closing ceremony of 'Bastar Olympic 2025' event in Jagdalpur, the headquarter of Bastar district.

The concluding ceremony of the three-day sports event will be held at 1.45 pm on Saturday in Jagdalpur, officials said.

Shah landed at the Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur in a special plane shortly after 9 pm, where he was welcomed by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, state Assembly Speaker Raman Singh, Deputy Chief Ministers Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma and others.

Sai extended a warm welcome to Shah.

In a post on 'X', Sai wrote , "...A warm welcome to Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji on this sacred land of Mata Kaushalya and the nanihal (the place of Lord Ram's maternal grandparents) of Lord Shri Ram, Chhattisgarh. Bastar, once known for conflict and unrest, has now transformed into a symbol of enthusiasm, harmony and cultural pride through the Bastar Olympic. In this historic closing ceremony, the entire Bastar is eagerly waiting for your inspiring guidance and address." On Thursday, CM Sai inaugurated the division-level Bastar Olympic 2025 event in Jagdalpur, in which around 3,500 players from all seven districts of Bastar division and 761 participants from the 'Nua Bat' (new path) team, comprising surrendered Naxalites and victims of Maoist violence, are competing.

Last year, the Bastar Olympic saw 1.65 lakh participants in all three levels -division, district and block, while this year in the second edition of the event, the number has surged to over 3.92 lakh, including more than 2.27 lakh women, officials said.

The division-level event is being held in 11 sporting disciplines, including athletics, archery, badminton, football, karate, kabaddi, kho-kho, volleyball and tug-of-war. PTI TKP NP