The minister, however, said all stadiums are ready and constructed in a short time of two and a half years. As for their high construction cost, Gill said all the stadiums are grand and virtually reconstructed and “not just repaired.”
Gill was replying to the Opposition claim that there was huge escalation of cost despite the availability of sporting infrastructure dating back to the 1982 Asiad.
He asserted that there are no shortcomings in the construction of stadiums. “If not better, they are as good as constructed by China,” the minister said quoting an international opinion. “It is like a wife picking holes in the newly constructed house,” he quipped. Gill seemed to be stonewalling queries on corruption charges by making humourous references to what it takes to the making of “a Punjabi marriage.” Let us look forward, he told the Opposition.
Gill informed the House that all information on the Commonwealth Games preparations could be obtained by way of the right to information (RTI). The minister’s remarks provoked the main Opposition BJP and later the Samajwadi Party with both parties staging a walkout.
Walkout in LS
Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj led the walkout, maintaining that the minister had sought to rate Parliament below RTI office.
Amid corruption charges against those in charge of organising the Games, Gill maintained that the Centre is basically providing back-up support and creating infrastructure for the mega-sporting event. He said the Indian Olympic Association and the Organising Committee (with 455 members, 25 committees and 600 staff) are organising the event.
Gill said his ministry had acted promptly to every charge and referred the case involving a letter of approval from the Indian High Commission to the Enforcement Directorate as soon as it received the complaint.
He said the country and the media should now focus on “players” rather than non-players. It is a case of national prestige, he said. Around 12,000 players from all parts of the world will participate in the event. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who waited for the minister to respond to his clarifications, later walked out after Gill “failed” to satisfy his queries.
Yadav had asked why India spent more than China in Beijing Olympics despite Delhi boasting of pre-existing sporting infrastructure.