Chandigarh, Sep 3: Indian wrestler Babita Phogat on Wednesday said the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award should be renamed after a prominent sports personality.

“Sports-related awards should be named only after great and respected players and not after any political person,” Phogat said in a tweet.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Hails ‘Mission Karmayogi’, Says ‘iGOT Will Enable Transition to Role-Based HR Management’.

“How do you like the suggestion of renaming Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award after a player,” she asked in a tweet,as many Twitter users responded to one of her earlier tweets in this regard.

When asked by reporters to comment on the issue, she said, “The Khel Ratna award has been named after Rajiv Gandhi. Instead, had it been named after any player, it would have been more appropriate.”

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy Slows His Convoy, Makes Way For Ambulance Carrying Injured Person (Watch Video).

“There are so many Olympic and world champion medalists in our country and players too would have felt more proud and motivated in receiving the award if it was named after a prominent sports personality,” she said.

The Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour, is named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. A month ago, the Haryana government had appointed Babita Phogat as the deputy director in its Sports and Youth Affairs Department.

Babita Phogat is the daughter of Mahavir Phogat, a noted wrestling coach.

The Phogats became a household name in the country after the success of Hindi film "Dangal'', which is based on the lives of the Phogat sisters, all of them wrestlers, and their father who coached them against all odds. Babita Phogat, along with her father, had joined the BJP in August last year.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)