The Hindu : New Delhi News : Sportsmen pitch in for Malhotra as CM

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Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008
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Sportsmen pitch in for Malhotra as CM

Staff Reporter

‘Experience as a sports administrator suits him to lead Delhi Govt. ahead of C’wealth Games’

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Adding punch: Members of the sports fraternity expressing their support for BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: A number of leading sportspersons on Tuesday came out in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, saying that with his vast experience as a sports administrator he was ideally suited to be the Chief Minister ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010 as that would help in a speedy completion of projects and improve the chances of Delhi in bidding for the Olympics.

The sportspersons who expressed solidarity with Prof. Malhotra at his residence were mostly Arjuna award winners. They included Olympic gold medal-winning hockey team captain Ajit Pal Singh, veteran hockey gold medallist Commander Nandi Singh, Shooting Federation of India secretary-general Baljeet Singh Sethi, famous cricketer and former BJP Member of Parliament Chetan Chauhan, veteran gold medal winning athlete Kamaljeet Sandhu, wrestling guru Chandgi Ram, wrestlers Raj Singh and Ashok Pahalwan, badminton player Dinesh Khanna, shooter Jaspal Rana, archers Limba Ram and Satya Dev Prasad, boxer Raj Kumar and table tennis players Manjit Dua and Indu Puri.

Indian Olympic Association executive member Tirlochan Singh addressing the media said sportspersons feel that all ongoing projects related to the Commonwealth Games and coming under the Delhi Government were running behind schedule. “Time is of the essence and people of the country, particularly sportspersons, feel that Prof. Malhotra would be the most suitable person to get all the projects completed well in time and make the Commonwealth Games in 2010 the most memorable.”

Mr. Singh recalled that as Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi – which was akin to Chief Minister – Prof. Malhotra had in the 1960s given unparalleled fillip to sports. During his five-year tenure a number of stadia, akharas and other sports venues and facilities came up or were upgraded.

The speakers also recalled how Prof. Malhotra, who is a senior vice-president of Indian Olympic Association, president of the General Association of National Sports Federation and chairman of the Reception Committee of Commonwealth Games-2010, had also served as chairman of the Organising Committee of ninth Asian Games 1982. He was also president of the All-India Council of Sports having the rank of a Cabinet Minister under the NDA Government.

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