New Delhi:
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the Commonwealth Games 2010 has been tabled in Parliament. It reportedly indicts Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for overspending in the Games.
The Chief Minister has so far been quiet on the matter. She has denied any wrongdoing but left it to her team to firefight.
"We have not committed any irregularities while holding the Commonwealth Games," Ms Dikshit told PTI. "We were entrusted with certain responsibilities for holding of the CWG and we delivered that."
"There are several points which have come in the media, which were not part of the draft of CAG report that came to us," Delhi's Chief Secretary, PK Tripathi said.
The 800-page CAG report comes down heavily on the Delhi government naming Sheila Dikshit for her decision on imported street lights during the Commonwealth Games which cost the government at least over Rs 100 crore.
The CAG report states that companies like Spaceage imported lights at low costs - about Rs. 5,000 each - and sold them to the government for Rs. 25,000 per light, earning super-profits at the government's expense. The report also says that Spaceage was rejected by a technical committee but was hired later to provide lights after the Chief Minister intervened. The Delhi government says the Chief Minister had no role to play; the company went to court and won their case.
Chief Secretary PK Tripathi pointed had out on Wednesday that Spaceage had gone to the Delhi High court to challenge its disqualification. Two judges ruled in its favour in July 2008, he said. Sandeep Dikshit, the Chief Minister's son and an MP from Delhi, said on Wednesday, "There is no role of the Chief Minister...the court said reinstall this company."
After being the Congress party's model Chief Minister winning three elections in a row, Ms Dikshit is now battling serious corruption charges. And the heat is not just on her but her party as well.
The Chief Minister called for an emergency meet on Thursday which she described an "informal chat". Ms Dikshit also refused to comment on the question of her resigning. She has called a meeting on Friday as well.