From Ajay Devgn’s X post and reported Bollywood Instagram Stories to a Suryakumar Yadav Facebook message, Shelar’s ESGF appointment resonated across Mumbai’s entertainment and sports circles.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi/August 30, 2026: When Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Ashish Shelar was unanimously elected president of the E-Sports Games Federation (ESGF) on August 28, the congratulations did not remain confined to the federation or the political establishment.
They spilled across Mumbai’s overlapping worlds of Bollywood, cricket, television, music, digital media and politics — appearing on X, Facebook and Instagram, and, in several cases, in Instagram Stories that disappeared after 24 hours.
The ESGF board elected Shelar unanimously at a meeting in New Delhi. Founder and then-acting president Nandan Jha and honorary chairperson Ashok Dhyanchand proposed his name, while secretary general Gursharan Singh seconded it. Representatives of 22 states backed the appointment.
Shelar, the BJP MLA from Vandre West, is Maharashtra’s minister for Electronics, IT, Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Affairs. He is also a former president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, former BCCI treasurer and a board member of the Asian Cricket Council.
That combination — politics, cricket administration, technology and a deep Mumbai network — helps explain why his appointment generated a much wider circle of greetings than a conventional sports-federation election might have.
Shelar himself sought to frame the appointment around the sport rather than the title.
“Esports is developing rapidly in India and our youth possess immense talent,” he said. “Around 600 million people in our country are engaged with esports.”
He also pointed to India’s upcoming international commitments, saying the national esports team would travel to Japan in September for the Asian Games.
“Our endeavour will be to provide players with better platforms, training, competitions and opportunities for growth,” he said.
Nandan Jha hands over the chair
The first and most important institutional endorsement came from the man who proposed Shelar’s name.
In the federation’s official statement, Jha said Shelar’s leadership would usher in a “new era of esports” in India and expressed confidence that the country’s ecosystem could become a global force.
On X, quoting ESGF’s congratulatory post, Jha wrote that the federation was “ecstatic” to have such a distinguished leader take charge and said he was confident the Indian esports ecosystem would be “the biggest gainer”.
Ashok Dhyanchand, son of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, said Shelar’s association with the sector reflected his commitment to sport and would bring “new energy and confidence” to esports players.
Gursharan Singh said the federation would focus on making India competitive internationally, including through national competitions, grassroots pathways and preparation for global events.
ESGF’s own message established the language that many subsequent congratulatory posts echoed: Shelar’s election was described as a “remarkable step towards shaping the future of esports in India”, with expectations that Indian esports would reach “new heights”.
Bollywood and music: one X post, and a wave of Stories
Congratulations to Shri @ShelarAshish Ji on being elected President of the @ESGFederation.
A significant responsibility at an exciting time for the sport.Wishing you the very best as you take Indian esports forward and help shape its journey ahead 🇮🇳🎮 pic.twitter.com/HRBvvJXwLO
— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) August 28, 2026
The most visible film-industry endorsement on a public timeline came from actor Ajay Devgn.
On August 28, Devgn posted on X:
“Congratulations to Shri @ShelarAshish Ji on being elected President of the @ESGFederation. A significant responsibility at an exciting time for the sport. Wishing you the very best as you take Indian esports forward and help shape its journey ahead.”
Devgn is already positioned at the intersection of entertainment and sport. His business interests include the visual-effects space, while he is also associated with the Ahmedabad Lions in the Indian Street Premier League, the tennis-ball T10 competition in which Shelar has been involved.
The wider Bollywood greeting, however, was more visible on Instagram Stories.
Salman Khan, Malaika Arora, Kareena Kapoor Khan and singer Adnan Sami were among those who shared congratulatory messages for Shelar after the election.
But the names are revealing in themselves. Shelar’s political and cricket networks have long overlapped with Mumbai’s entertainment industry. He has met Salman Khan and members of the Khan family on several occasions. Shah Rukh Khan attended a dinner following Shelar’s 2024 Assembly election victory. Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan, meanwhile, are part of the same cricket-entertainment ecosystem surrounding the ISPL.
Television and digital personalities also joined in, with actors Karanvir Bohra and Aamir Ali and Mumbai-based digital creator Rohit Saraiya among those circulating congratulatory messages.
Philanthropist and BJP spokesperson Asif Bhamla posted on Instagram, addressing Shelar as “My Dearest” and wishing him success in taking Indian esports forward.
Cricket: Suryakumar Yadav’s Facebook post
The cricket greeting that travelled most widely was notable for where it appeared: Facebook rather than X.
A post circulating under Suryakumar Yadav’s name on August 28, accompanied by a photograph of the India batter with Shelar, carried the message:
“India’s esports story enters a new chapter. Ashish Shelar has been elected President of the E Sports Games Federation. With India’s esports community growing rapidly, his leadership will focus on creating better platforms, training, competitions and opportunities for the country’s talented players. The game is changing. India is ready.”
The same wording also appeared on Instagram accounts using the familiar SKY branding. There was, however, no matching original post on Yadav’s official X account.
That distinction matters because the Facebook and Instagram circulation gave the message a different reach from the more easily archived political and sports-administration posts.
From the cricket-administration side, Suraj Samat, an MCA Apex Council member and ISPL league commissioner, also congratulated Shelar on Instagram, describing the appointment as the beginning of a phase of structured growth for Indian esports.
Again, the Mumbai connection is difficult to miss. Shelar, Samat, Narvekar and several figures from the entertainment world operate within overlapping cricket and sports-business circles.
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Politics: BJP morchas, Mumbai MLAs and a Shiv Sena (UBT) message
The political congratulations were overwhelmingly Mumbai-centric.
Akshay Nikalje, general secretary of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Mumbai, also congratulated Shelar — an especially relevant endorsement given the sport’s appeal among younger audiences.
BJP MLA Sanjay Upadhyay of Borivali quoted the ESGF post and congratulated Shelar in Marathi, expressing hope that Indian esports would reach new heights under his leadership.
Lata Gawande of the BJP Maharashtra Mahila Morcha wrote:
“नामदार ॲड. आशिषजी शेलार साहेब यांची ई-स्पोर्ट्स गेम्स फेडरेशनच्या अध्यक्षपदी निवड झाल्याबद्दल मनःपूर्वक अभिनंदन!”
Mukund Kakad, a BJP office-bearer from northeast Mumbai, posted a similar Marathi message. District-level information handles also circulated news of the IT and Culture Minister taking charge of ESGF.
But the most interesting political greeting came from outside the BJP.
Milind Narvekar, Shiv Sena (UBT) secretary, MLC and a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, quote-posted the ESGF announcement on August 29:
“Many congratulations @ShelarAshish Ji! Best wishes for a successful tenure!”
Narvekar and Shelar share another institutional connection: the Mumbai Cricket Association. Narvekar is an MCA Apex Council member, and the two have been photographed greeting each other at Vidhan Bhavan.
Narvekar’s message was therefore less a political endorsement than a sports-administration greeting. But in Mumbai’s sharply divided political landscape, its cross-party character makes it noteworthy.
Irfan Ahmad, former national vice president president of the BJP Minority Morcha, praised Shelar’s election and saying his leadership could give Indian esports a new direction.” His election to the post is an important step towards giving a new direction and shape to the future of esports in India. We are confident that, under his leadership and with his vision, Indian esports will scale new heights, “ Ahmad wrote.
Shelar’s Bandra political base puts him close to the entertainment industry. His cricket résumé connects him to the MCA, BCCI and a large network of players, administrators and sports-business figures. His Cabinet responsibilities — particularly IT, AI and culture — provide a natural governmental frame for the country’s rapidly expanding gaming and esports industry.
ESGF, meanwhile, is pitching esports as a sport that needs the same institutional scaffolding that traditional Indian sports have built over decades: organised competitions, training systems, selection structures, grassroots development and international representation.
That is the common thread running through the messages.
Jha’s claim that the Indian esports ecosystem will be the “biggest gainer” under Shelar provides the institutional thesis. Devgn’s X post puts the film industry’s support on the public record. The reported Instagram Stories from Salman Khan, Malaika Arora, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Adnan Sami represent the more ephemeral Bandra layer that conventional news archives can easily miss.
The Suryakumar Yadav Facebook message connects the appointment to cricket’s enormous youth audience. BJP morcha leaders bring in the political network. And Narvekar’s message shows that, at least in the Mumbai sports establishment, congratulations can cross the BJP-Shiv Sena (UBT) political divide.
The real test, however, begins after the congratulatory posts disappear.
Shelar now has to turn that unusual first-week network — Bollywood Stories, a cricket Facebook post, sports administrators, and a cross-party cricket connection — into the less glamorous business of building platforms, teams, training systems and international results.
