Embattled Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Sunday hit back at the Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, saying her aspersions on corruption in the OC were 'most disappointing and uncalled for' and that she must indulge in self-reflection on corruption in her own departments.
'Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi would like to state that we have followed due diligence in making all payments, getting the clearances from the Executive Board and from Reserve Bank of India for incurring the expenditure in foreign currency. All remittances happened against this clearance,' OC spokesperson Lalit Bhanot said in a statement.
'Officially, Suresh Kalmadi had only Rs 6.7 billion to play around with as the Commonwealth Games boss. As against this, Sheila Dikshit's government was allocated Rs 16.56 billion to upgrade the capital's infrastructure in time for the Games.'
Simply in no mood to oblige the Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Friday made it clear that it would neither remove CGF chief executive Mike Hooper nor would backtrack on its plan to have a Technical Review Panel to monitor preparations for the 2010 Games. CGF president Michael Fennell advised the Games Organising Committee (OC) to focus more on the work at hand, rather than seeking someone's removal.
Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Chairman Suresh Kalmadi said he was happy with the progress made in the Games Village as it got ready to welcome the first of the 7000 athletes and team officials who will reside there during the Commonwealth Games.