LUCKNOW: All praise for Hima Das, the 18-year-old athletic sensation from Assam, who won gold medal for the country, PM Narendra Modi said that the girl had the blessings of Baba Kashi Vishwanath (Lord Shiva) as she presented a defining moment to the nation and made all of us proud by becoming first Indian woman athlete to clinch the top spot at the world level.
The Prime Minister was addressing a public rally in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi. Notably, Hima, daughter of a farmer of a small village in Assam, scripted history on Thursday by winning gold medal for the country in the women's 400m final race in the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Tampere (Finland).
The PM on Saturday expressed his delight at Hima Das' feat saying he was deeply touched and moved by her gestures after the event. Modi took to twitter and posted a video of her race saying that such scenes will make any Indian proud.
Hima Das, an athlete from Assam, won gold medal in the 400 m track in the World Under-20 Championship recently held in Finland.
Modi wrote: "Unforgettable moments from @HimaDas's victory. Seeing her passionately search for the Tricolour immediately after winning and getting emotional while singing the National Anthem touched me deeply. I was extremely moved. Which Indian won't have tears of joy seeing this!" In fact, Hima never played even at the state level. She played only at zilla level till 18 months ago, today made the country proud at the world stage.
In an equally emotional Twitter missive, President Ram Nath Kovind has written: "This is India's first ever track gold in a World Championship. A very proud moment for Assam and India, Hima; now the Olympic podium beckons".
Meanwhile, the prime minister inaugurated several development projects, with those in Varanasi alone estimated to be worth Rs 1,000 crore.
Claiming that Kashi was emerging on the international tourism map, the PM exhorted the people of his constituency to gear up for welcoming Indian based abroad who would visit the holy city between January 21 and 23 during Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas.
PM Modi said efforts to clean the Ganga were on. 200 projects worth Rs 21,000 crore which were approved for Ganga cleanliness and to ensure waste from the cities were not dumped in the holy river.
(with UNI inputs)