Unfazed by C’wealth glitches, Delhi now eyes Olympics

Plagued by inordinate delays, collapsing infrastructure and filth, the Delhi authorities went into self-congratulatory mode on Thursday, when the Commonwealth Games baton arrived in the capital.

The Queen's Baton saw the lieutenant governor, the chief minister and organising committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi come together at the headquarters, where they heaped rich praises on each other for ''making the Games possible''.

They didn't stop there, declaring the Games Village, which was in news recently for all the wrong reasons, a world class venue. Lieutenant-governor Khanna went a step further saying that the infrastructure developed for the games was not inferior to that built elsewhere.

Receiving the Queen's Baton at the organising committee headquarters along with chief minister Shiela Dikshit, he said that with this kind of infrastructure India is now prepared to bid for the biggest sporting extravaganza on the planet, Olympics.

''The Games Village is regarded as the finest living place for athletes in the world,'' Khanna said. On the controversies in the run up to the Games, he said, ''Doubts have been raised and I have been asked whether we will be able to host the Games successfully. But I am not looking into the superficial aspects. I have myself seen the work that has gone into the projects over the years.''

With some work still to be done, Dikshit had on Wednesday declared the Commonwealth Games athletes village ready and "highly livable".