For the second successive day, Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi was kept out of the limelight by the Congress officialdom.
On Saturday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul met the Indian medal winners of the just concluded Commonwealth Games at her official residence, 10 Janpath. Kalmadi was conspicuous by his absence.
The Gandhis’ cold-shoulder to Kalmadi comes just a day after prime minister Manmohan Singh meted out the same treatment to Kalmadi, a Congress party member and secretary of the Congress parliamentary party, at a similar occasion.
Interestingly, sports minister MS Gill and Bhubaneswar Kalita, who was the chef de mission of the Indian contingent, were present at 10 Janpath.
Kalmadi’s isolation has reinforced the Congress party’s message that the glittering success of the Commonwealth Games has not affected its resolve to punish any wrongdoings in the preparations of the games.
Just before the games began, there were a series of allegations of shoddy construction and misappropriation of funds. The government had then promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the preparations once the games were concluded. The games ended on Thursday and on Friday, the government ordered a probe. The various agencies have already begun their respective investigations.
Of course, the Congress party sought to downplay Kalmadi’s absence from the two events. “Both the prime minister and the Congress president have felicitated the medal winners,” Congress spokesperson Mohan Prakash said. “The medal winners are the real heroes and champions, and they deserve this recognition. In this, there is no question of inviting or not inviting the administrators or the office bearers of the sports organisations.”
Prakash pointed out that as per the public commitment made by the prime minister, the promised enquiry into the affairs of the games has been instituted. “The party and the government have always maintained that no one who has done any wrong will be spared. We have also emphasised that whereas no stone will be left unturned to transform the games into a spectacle that showcases the best of India, we shall also not spare any effort to punish the wrong doers,” he added.
