MS Aiyar informed PM about Kalmadi's excesses in 2007

New Delhi, Jun 2: Just as Suresh Kalmadi's name is becoming synonymous with corruption, in the same manner Dr Manmohan Singh once considered as the architect of India's economic rise, is emerging as the Mr Overlooker in Indian political scenario.

According to a report by the NDTV, letters between Mani Shankar Aiyar, the then Sports Minister of India and Prime Manmohan Singh expose that the former had informed the latter about Kalmadi's "excesses" and "dictatorial style of functioning" in 2007 itself.

In one of the letters accessed by the news channel under the Right to Information Act (RTI), Aiyar had written, "Without a drastic overhaul of both the executive and Organizing Committee for the Commonwealth Games, I fear that it will prove to be practically impossible for the government to significantly address the excesses of Suresh Kalmadi and his cohorts."

In another from Aiyar to the Prime Minister dated Oct 25, 2007, the former sports minister had written, "I grow increasingly alarmed at the profligacy of the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth Games 2010. The Ministry has failed to establish a genuinely cooperative working relationship with the Organizing Committee."

He added, "The chairman stooped so low as to describe us (Sports Ministry) as 'cartoons sitting in one room in Shastri Bhawan. Chairman (Kalmadi) saw the Ministry as a milch cow to extract as much money as he can."

It can be recollected that the CommonWealth Games organised in 2010 in New Delhi was embroiled in a series of controversies surrounding financial irregularity and poor infrastructure.

Kalmadi, who was the Chairman of the CWG 2010 organising committee was arrested on April 25 by the CBI under charges of fraud, conspiracy and acts of corruption.

OneIndia News