Yuvraj Singh

Calcutta: Amit Shah, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is seen by many as the country's most powerful man after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has assured Yuvraj Singh of “whatever help is possible” to further his cancer-related mission.

Yuvraj, who himself beat lung cancer in early 2012, is passionate about spreading awareness and keeps highlighting the need for early detection.

To the extent he can, the 32-year-old Yuvraj is doing the needful through YouWeCan, which is his cancer-specific charity.

YouWeCan comes under the umbrella of the Yuvraj Singh Foundation, which came into being in 2009.

Over a lakh of cases have already been detected courtesy cancer awareness campaigns partnered by YouWeCan.

It’s not an insignificant number.

Shah gave the assurance during his meeting with Yuvraj at the BJP’s HQ (11 Ashoka Road), in New Delhi, late on Friday afternoon. They were together for around 20 minutes.

“It had absolutely nothing to do with politics. In fact, the interaction was a follow-up to a meeting between Mr Shah and Yuvi in Mumbai,” Nishant Jeet Arora, the senior pro’s manager, told The Telegraph.

In Mumbai, Shah had asked Yuvraj to brief him about the activities of YouWeCan at a mutually convenient date.

That turned out to be September 12, coinciding with the announcement of the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

While Yuvraj’s roots are in Chandigarh (joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, with the status of a Union territory), he has apartments in Mumbai and Gurgaon as well.

Of late, Yuvraj has been spending more time in Mumbai, where he’s training at Zaheer Khan’s fitness centre.

One of the heroes of India’s 2011 World Cup win, Yuvraj is working towards a comeback before the next edition of cricket’s No.1 tournament — in February-March 2015.

The upcoming season, then, is critical for Yuvraj.

According to Arora, Shah complimented Yuvraj for being transparent about his illness and remarked that a “buzz” gets created when a “celebrity” comes out in the open.

Arora added: “Mr Shah promised whatever help is possible during any initiative undertaken by YouWeCan. Basically, that if roadblocks cropped up, he’d put in a word if government agencies could be of help. Yuvi came away very happy.”

Shah, by the way, has a cricket connection: He’s the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association and has attended meetings of the Board.

Meanwhile, one understands that YouWeCan will soon make a “presentation” before one of the Central ministries for something planned later this year.

The Modi government had nothing to do with it, but YouWeCan recently won the Rajiv Gandhi Sadhbhavna award for the No. 1 charity in the field of cancer.

Last week, speaking exclusively, an elated Yuvraj said: “The award means a lot to everybody associated with YouWeCan. Such recognition is going to inspire us. Push us harder.”

With the powerful Shah pitching in, the YouWeCan initiatives in the pipeline should have a much smoother take-off.