Nilesh Deshpande
Besides cricket that everybody loves, the body sport of basketball is also close to the heart of Devendra Fadnavis. The Nagpur boy who took oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra for the third time on Thursday played an important role in the development of the game when he led the Nagpur District Basketball Association (NDBA) from 2002 to 2013 as its president.
Basketball is believed to be a game that is 80 per cent mental and 20 per cent physical. As the youngest chief of the NDBA, Fadnavis, during his tenure kept veterans at bay and took the game to glorious heights. When he became the president of BJP's Maharashtra state unit in 2013 he handed over the baton to former mayor Sandip Joshi who is president till date.
Shiv Chhatrapati awardee Shatrughna Gokhale who was secretary when Fadnavis was the president shared his experiences with Lokmat Times. “The game of basketball prospered under Fadnavis' tenure as NDBA president. Apart from developing basketball courts he always supported players. Due to his efforts, now a number of Nagpur players are excelling at the state and national-level”, said Gokhale.
Nagpur hosted the Youth National Basketball Championship for the first time in 2011. Gokhale said the event was organised at the newly constructed Divisional Sports Complex and Fadnavis, who was the organising committee chairman, was singularly instrumental in getting the national event to the city. Gokhale recalled that Fadnavis had used his charm and convincing skills to manage a sponsorship of Rs 70 lakh for the smooth conduct of the championship. A number of state and district-level tournaments were also organised during his tenure.
Dr Dhanajay Welukar, who was the working president of NDBA with Fadnavis recalls the problem solving skills of Fadnavis. "I had a very nice experience of working with Fadnavis. He had a vision (for the development of the game) and administrative qualities. His attention to detail was impressive and he somehow came up with a new angle everytime a problem cropped up," he said. "Whenever we faced any difficulties, he used to sort it all out with a positive outcome," Dr. Welukar remembered, adding that it was Fadnavis who had convinced him to continue as an NDBA office-bearer when he once wanted to call it quits.
Even today Fadnavis' love for sports continues. The Maharashtra Government has given administrative approval of Rs 686.79 crore for the development of a Nagpur Sports Hub at the Mankapur arena which is expected to be completed in 46 months. This is a dream project of Fadnavis and he performed the bhoomipujan of the proposed mega-sports complex along with union Minister for Road Transport and Nagpur MP, Nitin Gadkari in August this year.