NDA responsible for Kalmadi`s appointment: Cong

New Delhi: Countering the Opposition`s attack on the Prime Minister for the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as the CWG Organising Committee chairman, the Congress rallied behind Sports Minister Ajay Maken accusing the NDA of doing the ground work that led to his appointment.

"We have established it beyond doubt that it was NDA government which was responsible for creating infrastructure and architecture which led to the appointment of CWG Organising Committee Chairman," party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters at the AICC briefing. He said the NDA has a lot to answer for the creation of the architecture which led to this fait accompli of the Indian Olympic Association chief being appointed as Chairman of the CWG OC. Tewari also claimed that BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra was Kalmadi`s "greatest supporter".The Congress spokesperson alleged that the bid document`s conditions were not the same as were in the host city contract both of which were prepared during the NDA rule. "What miracle happened between May 2003 and September 2003 that what was written in the bid document was not written in the host city agreement," he asked. Replying to questions on why the UPA government did not cancel the appointment of Kalmadi, Tewari said that had the Congress-led government taken such a decision, it would have led to arbitration in a British court and then the UPA would have been charged with sabotaging the Games. PTI