New Delhi:
The Congress party is looking to distance itself from Suresh Kalmadi, the man at the centre of the allegations of corruption in the Commonwealth Games. Kalmadi, who is the chairman of the CWG Organising Committee, is also a Congress MP from Pune.
The party has said that it holds no brief for Mr Kalmadi. And sources now tell NDTV that the party is discussing a supervisory committee for the Commonwealth Games. Such a committee could be headed by the Cabinet Secretary. A similar mechanism was in place when India hosted the 1982 Asian Games.
Manish Tewari, the spokesperson of the Congress party told NDTV last night," Mr Kalmadi is not the representative of the Congress party on the Indian Olympic Association or the Organising Committee. If there is any corruption that is committed, those people should be given the strictest punishment. Congress party is in no way is involved with the politics of sports."
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, On Wednesday, said that Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi should resign if his name figures in a CBI inquiry.Singh, who is the party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, was the second Congressman to speak on the raging controversy after Rajya Sabha MP Mani Shankar Aiyar's adverse comments on the holding of the Games.
Aiyar, a strong critic of the Delhi Games, had recently created a furore by saying that he would be unhappy if the CWG were a success and that only "evil" would support such an event. He had also said his outburst against the Commonwealth Games has opened up "a can of worms" which was evident from the alleged corruption charges that have rocked the October 3-14 sporting extravaganza.