Dutee Chand issue raised in Odisha Assembly

Bhubaneswar: Terming sprinter Dutee Chand`s exclusion from the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games as "painful", Odisha government Saturday said it will seek a reply from the Athletic Federation of India and Sports Authority of India as to why the girl alone was subjected to such a test.

"It is really painful that Dutee Chand has been excluded from the team just two days before the players leaving for the Commonwealth Games. We will seek a reply from both the AFI and SAI as to why only she was put to test and not the others, state sports minister Sudam Marandi said in the Assembly. Giving assurance to the House that Chand would get justice, Marandi said his department would fight for the sprinter from Odisha. The issue was raised in the Assembly by the ruling BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain, who alleged that Chand had been subjected to humiliation as she hailed from from the state. "Had Dutee been from Punjab, no one could have dared to do injustice to her," Swain said. Alleging that Chand`s exclusion from the Indian team was part of a conspiracy, the BJD law maker asked the state government to take up the matter with highest level in order to give justice to the sprinter. Chand was dropped from the upcoming Commonwealth Games on the ground of high androgen level.