Lucknow, April 20 -- Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday laid the pitch for Uttar Pradesh, particularly Lucknow, to host the National Games after an over 75-year gap as he urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to hold the next edition of the event here.

Lucknow hosted its first and only National Games in 1948, also the first one in free India. In the pre-independence years, the first National Games in Uttar Pradesh was organised in 1930 at Allahabad (now Prayagraj).

Soon after the defence minister made his remarks, the Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association (UPOA) announced its full support to the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh Government, if it makes a bid to host the National Games in future.

The UPOA confirmed that if the Nation...