Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was sidelined in the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony despite all its efforts for the Games during the past year, Delhi BJP Chief Vijender Gupta said Monday.

“The civic body of the city, which has been working hard for the past one year for the Commonwealth Games’ success, was been thoroughly overlooked and sidelined. This was very much evident in the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony yesterday (Sunday),” Gupta told IANS.

A former chairman of the MCD’s standing committee, Gupta also noted that in every nation which hosts the Commonwealth Games, ample importance is given to the host city’s mayor, but in the opening ceremony, Delhi Mayor Prithvi Raj Sawhney was never given importance.

Sawhney himself said he did not want any recognition as an individual, but the post “should be given the due respect”.

“When the Commonwealth Games Queen Baton arrived at the Games’ Organising Committee office, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit hogged all the limelight. In cities across the world, the baton is received by the mayor,” Sawhney told IANS.

“It is really pathetic that the civic body was not given the least recognition but only the Delhi government was appreciated,” the mayor added.

Gupta also said that over 20,000 corporation employers were deputed in Games-related work and the MCD had spent around Rs.1,500 crore on the various projects.

The Delhi government only approached the MCD when it needed urgent help in cleaning the Commonwealth Games Village and other important Games venues, where the MCD staff are still working round the clock, he said.

“Whenever there is a civic issue, they (the Delhi government) blame the civic body led by the BJP and politicise it but when we do good work, no one appreciates it and moreover they sideline the MCD from such a big sporting event,” Gupta added.