Mani Aiyar hopes Commonwealth Games will flop
27 Jul 2010
Senior Congress leader and former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today said he would be "unhappy" if the Commonwealth Games were a success, and that only "evil" would patronise them - remarks which were quickly dismissed by both his party and the opposition BJP.
"I am delighted in a way because rains are causing difficulties for the Commonwealth Games Federatoion. Basically, I will be very unhappy if the games are successful because then they will start bringing Asian Games, Olympic Games and all these," Aiyar, a known critic of the games, told reporters outside Parliament House.
The Rajya Sabha MP lashed out at the massive expenditure being incurred for the October event. Those who are patronising the Games can only be evil,'' Aiyar said.
He said instead of spending a whopping Rs35,000 crore on the games, the money should have been spent on children.
"Thousands of crores are being spent on circuses like these while the common children are being deprived of basic facilities to play," Aiyar said, adding all "expectations" from the games had been belied.
Commenting on Delhi's under-preparedness, the Rajya Sabha MP took a swipe at the games' organising committee for failing to meet the deadlines for various projects related to it.
