Suresh Kalmadi stays as chief, but with clipped wings

Short of forcing him to resign as chairman of the organising committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games (CWG), the government is tightening the noose around Suresh Kalmadi over financial irregularities in the Rs20,000-crore event.

Top officials of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and several revenue agencies have swooped down on OC offices and are working round-the-clock to scrutinise every file.

The CWG finance committee headed by the Union finance ministry’s expenditure secretary is looking into all contracts and payments. A committee headed by cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar is keeping the prime minister(PM) posted on the developments.

Since the Games are barely six weeks away, the Congress high command is disinclined to change the chairman of the OC. The core committee of the party met on Friday, but took no decision on the issue. Rather, by leaving the issue with sports minister MS Gill, the party virtually washed its hands off the issue. In a way, it is up to the PM.

Urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy, who is the chairman of the group of ministers (GoM) on the CWG, has advised the PM that no useful purpose will be served by removing Kalmadi. He is also opposed to creating an oversight committee propounded by some Congress leaders, saying this should have been done long ago, not now.

He blamed the very structure of sports federations in the country and said far-reaching reforms are necessary. Reddy told DNA the GoM is not an empowered group of ministers.

The Congress has decided against putting Kalmadi in the dock because it doesn’t want to give ammunition to the opposition.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said in Bhopal that there is no need for Kalmadi to resign as “no case has been filed either by the CBI or the CVC against him”.

Kalmadi was elusive throughout the day, except for making a cryptic remark to a TV channel: “I am not hiding, I am doing my work.” In reality, he was being grilled by sports ministry and finance panel officials.