Jaitley attacks govt on CWG, says heads must roll

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, 09 August 2011: Already under fire following the CAG reprimand of the PMO and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the Commonwealth Games irregularities, the government faced fresh salvos in Parliament on Tuesday. 

 

During a debate in Rajya Sabha on Sports Minister Ajay Maken’s statement that Suresh Kalmadi was appointed CWG Organising Committee chief by the NDA government, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the minister’s statement conceals more facts than it reveals. 

 

"Mr Maken’s statement reveals a little but conceals much more and one of the questions which arises is why does it conceal so much of information," Jaitley, the Leader of Opposition in the House, asked. 

 

Jaitley told the House that it was part of government conspiracy to blame CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi for everything that went wrong with the Games. The minister’s misleading statement is only trying to save the culprit, he said. 

 

Jaitley demanded that the heads of government functionaries must roll as they were equally responsible for the conduct of the Games. 

“The Commonwealth Games scam is too big a scandal for buck to stop at one person (Kalmadi),” the BJP leader asserted. 

 

He also lambasted Maken for blaming the NDA government for appointment of Kalmadi as the chief of CWG OC, saying it was in fact during the UPA tenure that Kalmadi was made the head of the Games affairs. 

 

He also sought to drag in Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying the two had endorsed Kalmadi’s appointment as OC chief. 

 

Jaitley further stated that real issues had been sidestepped. 

 

"The international sporting event became a massive scandal," he said, questioning the manner in which the structure of the Games was created, various executing agencies were empowered to go ahead with the awarding of contracts and large sums of taxpayers’ money were spent on projects. 

 

"How much of the money was squandered away still remains a major national concern," he added. 

 

Earlier, as soon as the two Houses – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - convened at 11.00 am the Opposition led by the BJP demanded suspension of the Question Hour and preponement of the debate scheduled to start at 12 noon. 

 

Amid chaos, both the Houses were adjourned till 12 noon. 

 

When the two Houses reconvened Lok Sabha continued to witness chaotic scenes and was adjourned till 2.00 pm. However, Rajya Sabha appeared to be calm with the debate starting on the CWG issue. 

 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ashwini Kumar said the Opposition doesn’t seem serious about a discussion on the CAG report on the Commonwealth Games as they are not letting the House function. 

 

"Despite an agreement yesterday that the House will run and Question Hour will be taken up in the Lok Sabha after which there will be a calling attention and then discussion will begin on (Sports Minister) Ajay Maken’s statement, unfortunately they disrupted the House and did not let question hour proceed," said Kumar. 

 

It is expected that for most part of the discussion the focus will shift from Maken’s statement to the indictment of the Prime Minister’s Office and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit by the Comptroller and Auditor general in its report on the CWG. 

 

The government had yesterday ruled out any debate in Parliament on the CAG report, saying parliamentary procedures require that the CAG’s findings be vetted by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) before the two Houses take up the matter for discussion. 

 

The government however agreed to a discussion on the issue related to Maken’s statement over which the NDA had moved privilege notices both Houses yesterday. 

 

The BJP has alleged that Maken twisted facts to blame the NDA government for Kalmadi’s appointment as CWG OC chief. 

 

Maken had said that Kalmadi was made CWG OC chief by Indian Olympic Association as per Host City Contract approved during the NDA rule and there was no scope for any change.