Journey will continue to make India a great sporting nation: Kiren Rijiju

Outgoing Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the journey of making India a great sporting nation will continue as only responsibilities have changed and not the vision. Rijiju assumed charge as the Union Minister of Law and Justice on Thursday replacing Ravi Shankar Prasad in the Ministry.

"We tried everything to make India a great sporting nation. The journey will continue as it is a change of responsibilities. I am shifting to the Law and Justice Ministry but the efforts which are going on in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will continue and my best wishes to the team," Rijiju told reporters.

The former Sports Minister said his team did everything in their capacity to fulfill the aspirations of the countrymen and the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I met the sports ministry officials, secretary Youth Affairs, secretary Sports, DG SAI, and the entire team. We had a great team and a wonderful journey," said Rijiju.

"We did everything to fulfill the vision of PM and the aspirations of the people. We have tried everything to make India a great sporting nation. We will all continue to cheer for our team in Tokyo Olympics," he added.

Rijiju had become the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports after the BJP-led government returned to office in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Over the past two years, he has been associated with several initiatives in the sports ministry including the Fit India movement. "The time which I had has been extremely favourable as well as full of events and activities," said Rijiju.

"From young to senior athletes, I have met most of the players in the academy and interacted with them. The journey of making India a great sporting nation will continue and this will be fulfilled," he opined.

BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur was on Wednesday sworn in as a Cabinet Minister and he has been given the portfolio of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry.

Along with this, he has also been given the charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The 46-year-old MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh was among the 15 new Cabinet Ministers who took oath in the first major rejig and expansion of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government after it returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

The passing of the baton of the Sports Ministry comes just 15 days ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Thakur would now be looking to carry forward the work done by Rijiju. In the upcoming Tokyo Olympics -- slated to begin from July 23 -- the total Indian contingent would be around 126 athletes and 75 officials.