Suresh Kalmadi says he did no wrong, will make statement in House

Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi wants parliament to function so that he can defend the charges against him.

“Even before the Games were held, the media was levelling
all kinds of charges against me. Now that an inquiry is under way, there are similar allegations. All I can say is no wrong has been committed under my signature. I have requested the Lok Sabha speaker to allow me to make a suo motu statement, and I have been assured that I will get the opportunity,” he told mediapersons in New Delhi on Monday.

About reports of his absence from the country, Kalmadi said he had been away for the Asian Games in China, and for an Asian Games Federation meeting.

“Let me tell you that these are not my words, but it is the opinion of all the countries present there. They feel that India has arrived as a sporting nation, and they also say that India can now host the Olympics,” he said.

Kalmadi referred to the performance of the Indian contingent at Asiad and said the medals tally of 64, including 14 gold, had only reinforced the quality of the performance at Delhi CWG, where Indians had won 101 medals.

Even as the turmoil in parliament continued over 2G spectrum scam, Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar made a special reference to the performance of the Indian contingent in Guangzhou and congratulated the medal winners.