Khel Ratna Award renamed after legendary Dhyan Chand

New Delhi: India's highest sporting honour Khel Ratna Award, which was named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was on Friday rechristened in the honour of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand following the admirable performance of both men's and women's hockey teams in the Tokyo Olympics.

While the ruling BJP hailed the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah calling it a true tribute to one of India's greatest sportspersons, the Congress too welcomed it but accused Modi of having "myopic political motive" and demanded that he should also change stadiums named after him and late BJP leader Arun Jaitley.

The prime minister tweeted that he had been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand.

"Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award! Major Dhyan Chand was among India's foremost sportspersons who brought honour and pride for India. It is fitting that our nation's highest sporting honour will be named after him," he tweeted.

The exceptional performance of the men's and women's hockey teams has captured the imagination of our entire nation, the prime minister said, adding that there is a renewed interest towards the sport that is emerging across the length and breadth of India.

This is a very positive sign for the coming times, he said. The prestigious award carries a prize money of Rs 25 lakh.