Congress Member of Parliament (MP) and former Indian Sports Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has been a staunch critic of the Commonwealth Games. On Sunday, the veteran politician once again let his aversion for the quadrennial games be known when he said he would fly out of the country in October when the sporting spectacle kicks off in New Delhi.
“I am hell out of the country for these two weeks (Oct. 3-14), since I do not want to witness the games,” Aiyar was quoted as telling the media in the southern Indian town of Elavanchery, where he had gone to attend the marriage ceremony of former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor.
The games have been hit hard by allegations of corruption, kickbacks and poor quality construction of stadia with the Games Organizing Committee chairman, Suresh Kalmadi, bearing the brunt of the media criticism.
On Sunday, Aiyar said it was “premature” on the part of India to host the games of such gigantic proportion.
“The money being spent on the games could have been utilized for developing infrastructure in rural areas and for training sportspersons in various disciplines to make India a strong sporting nation,” Aiyar told the media.
He averred that had India bid for the games 10-15 years later, and just concentrated on promoting sports at the grassroots level, the country could have rivaled China.
Aiyar had recently ruffled the feathers of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government at the Centre when he said that only the “evil” could patronize the Games
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