Goa Sports Minister must quit for National Games delay: Congress

Panaji: The Congress on Sunday demanded the resignation of Sports Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar for alleged scams in the construction of infrastructure for the 36th National Games and the inability of the government to complete the projects in time for the event, leading to repeated delays.

State Congress President Girish Chodankar also demanded an audit and review of all ongoing works for the National Games by the Chief Minister, claiming there were exorbitant expenses and duplication of work in many cases.

"I demand that Ajgaonkar should resign holding moral responsibility for his failure to hold the Games in time and bringing a bad name to the state. I have my own doubts and apprehensions about the games actually taking place in 2020," Chodankar said here on Sunday.

Delay in completing the requisite infrastructure in Goa has been one of the reasons stated by the government for the delay in hosting the Games in Goa, the last edition of which was held in Jharkhand in 2011.

After the state government pleaded with the Indian Olympic Committee on several occasions to delay the hosting of the Games, the latter last week finalised a delayed itinerary for the event, which is now scheduled to be held between October 20 and November 4, next year.

The Congress in Goa, however, claims that pleading repeatedly with the IOC to delay the Games was "shameful" on part of the BJP-led coalition government.

"The Government has completely failed to create the infrastructure needed for the National Games despite repeated extensions given by IOA. Its a shame that the BJP Government asked for postponements of the Games due to its failure to complete works of various facilities required for the Games in time," Chodankar said.

Alleging scams in the process for creation of infrastructure for the national event, Chodankar also demanded an audit of all works related to the Games.

"The Chief Minister should review all the ongoing works of National Games and do a audit of expenditure incurred so far. There are various instances wherein exorbitant estimates were prepared and work orders given for much higher amounts. Duplication of works are also observed in many cases," Chodankar alleged.