BJP seeks PM reply on CWG, no one else will do

NEW DELHI: Amid allegations of financial irregularities in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) projects, Opposition BJP on Friday mounted pressure on the government both in Parliament and outside the House along with its NDA partners JD(U) and Shiv Sena (SS).

Demanding a reply on the issue from no other than the Prime Minister, the BJP said that it would ask for the Question Hour to be suspended in both the Houses on Monday morning, and ask for an adjournment motion to be moved on the Games issue.

Outside the House, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav and SS leader Manohar Joshi demanded that Suresh Kalmadi be sacked as the organising committee chief for the Games and the massive corruption in the CWG management be taken to the people, since most of it is taxpayers’ money that is being misused.

“The issue of irregularities in Commonwealth Games has come up in Parliament several times, yet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are silent. They are neither ready to speak on the issue nor take any action against those responsible,” deputy leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde told reporters.

The main Opposition party will give notices in both Houses on Monday to demand suspension of Questions Hour and also a statement from the PM. “We want the Prime Minister to clarify what action he will take against those responsible for the financial irregularities. All limits of propriety have been crossed in the Games preparations,” Munde said.

Speaking a Citizens’s forum on Friday, senior BJP leader Vijay Goel said, while Kalmadi should be sacked there are bigger people involved and it would all come out in time, quoting amounts that have already been spent from the taxpayer’s pocket while no work has been completed.