‘I have not done anything to embarrass my voters’

Lok Sabha member and former chairman of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, said on Saturday that he had not done anything to embarrass his voters.

Lok Sabha member and former chairman of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, said on Saturday that he had not done anything to embarrass his voters.

HT Image

The Congress leader was speaking before party workers at Congress Bhavan after he lost his post of standing committee chairperson in the Pune Municipal Corporation. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came together to defeat the Congress and ensure BJP candidate, Ganesh Beedkar’s victory. The Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting. Prior to the election, the Congress- NCP alliance governed the PMC.

Kalmadi launched a blistering attack on NCP, saying the NCP was sharing power with the Congress in Delhi and Mumbai but were confused in Pune. Kalmadi said his party will not have an alliance with the NCP in the next civic elections under any circumstances.

He also spoke about the Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the CWG scam. “There have been reports questioning my whereabouts. I am still in Pune and have not gone anywhere,” Kalmadi said. “I have done a lot for the city,” Kalmadi said. He added that during his tenure, Pune got maximum funds for development from the state and Union government as compared to other cities.

Kalmadi said the CBI found nothing in the raids conducted at his house, business premises and bank lockers. “I have been cooperating with the inquiry and will continue to do so but they have not found anything so far,” he said.