New bonhomie between Gill and Kalmadi

Giving a new twist to their love-hate relationship, Sports Minister M S Gill and Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi were on Tuesday seen embracing each other and exchanging pleasantries during the inauguration of the remodelled Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

Giving a new twist to their love-hate relationship, Sports Minister M S Gill and Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi were on Tuesday seen embracing each other and exchanging pleasantries during the inauguration of the remodelled Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

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Their public show of affection towards each other caught everyone by surprise including Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on the dais and the mediapersons on the ground.

The moment both entered from Gate number 3 of the stadium, Gill and Kalmadi started exchanging pleasantries and gesturing towards each other.

On the dais, both sat next to each other and after a few minutes of silence, started talking about the stadium and work done by the engineers.

They laughed, shook hands and whispered on several occasions much to the amusement of many till their turn to address the audience came.

Even after the function, both seemed to enjoy each other's company.

When mediapersons tried to get a quote or two from them on recent developments, both ignored them and continued with their matter of discussion.

The IOA and the national sports federations have been at loggerheads over the tenure-limitation and a host of other issues.

The wrangling between Gill and Kalmadi over the guidelines -- which fixes the term of the sports bosses in the country -- has been going on for quite sometime.

The matter even reached IOC, which addressed the issue at a meeting with both the parties in Lausanne last month.