PM chairing meeting on CWG (Lead)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday met Sports Minister M.S. Gill, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and other ministers to discuss ways to control the damage over the controversies surrounding the Commonwealth Games and to ensure the Games' smooth conduct.

The meeting began at the Prime Minister's Residence -7 Race Course Road - around 5 p.m., official sources said.

The meeting is likely to formulate a coordinating mechanism or oversight system for the Games, just 50 days away, the sources indicated. Gill is likely to be involved in the new set-up, they added.

Besides the PM, Gill and Dikshit, Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and senior officials, including Cabinent Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar and Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, were attending the meeting.

The prime minister convened the meeting a day after the Congress Core Committee met here to discuss the CWG controversies and asked him to take steps for the smooth conduct of the Games. Indications are that the government may not replace Kalmadi, the sources said.

A suggestion that the cabinet secretary be tasked to coordinate the CWG preparations in the remaining period is also being considered by the prime minister, sources said.

The preparations for the Oct 3-14 Games have attracted adverse media coverage for the delays in construction works and alleged corrupt deals by the Organising Committee, led by Kalmadi.

Kalmadi has denied the charges and said he was ready for scrutiny. Opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left have called for Kalmadi's resignation and an explanation by the prime minister on the floor of parliament.