Bandi Slams CM Over Olympic Remarks

Posting on X, Sanjay contrasted India’s Olympic record before and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office. He noted that in 16 Olympics prior to 2014, India won only 18 medals, most of them in hockey. In comparison, the three Olympics held under Modi’s tenure, India won 15 medals across athletics, wrestling, boxing, badminton, shooting, weightlifting and hockey. “If this is failure, what do we call Congress’s 60 years of missed chances,” he asked.

He credited Modi’s government with reforms that reshaped Indian sport. These included establishing over 1,000 Khelo India training centres, launching the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in 2014 to provide global coaching and financial aid to elite athletes and promoting fitness nationwide through the Fit India Movement. Sanjay pointed out that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics brought India its best-ever tally of seven medals, including Neeraj Chopra’s gold, followed by six medals at Paris 2024.

The minister also underlined the tripling of the sports budget from ₹1,643 crore in 2014 to ₹3,794 crore in 2025-26, and the passing of the National Sports Governance Bill in 2025. He concluded that India is no longer merely competing but is preparing to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. Taking a dig at Revanth Reddy’s claim that India would win golds only by 2028, Sanjay said Congress had failed to build systems, adding, “Modi ji did.”