Faced with a volley of criticism about Delhi’s lack of preparedness for the Commonwealth Games next October, Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs M S Gill had to do much firefighting in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

While Gill sought to allay concerns and assured that all work would be completed on time, several members called the situation worrisome.

Initiating the debate, BJP’s Kalraj Mishra said the ugly conflict between Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennel and Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi had reflected badly on India in the international arena. He expressed concern over the delay in completion of works at stadiums, shortage of accommodation, and security arrangements for the sports event.

Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan said India would make a mockery of itself if it did not get its act together.

“We are a great nation laughing at ourselves,” she said. “(For the organisers) this is such a big joke... It is going to be the most humiliating experience for this nation — China was ready before the Olympics a month before it started, if not a year. And by now we should have started our practice drills.”

Noting that even as recently as October 1, Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper had remarked that India was not ready to host the event, Bachchan said India was headed for trouble.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the government was caught in “last-minute panic” and had lost the “host advantage” by failing to get its sportsmen to train in venues that would host the events. Calling the Kalmadi-Fennel conflict a “clash of personalities”, Jaitley said statesmanship was the need of the hour.

... contd.