New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was cornered in the spectacular opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, the city’s Mayor Prithvi Raj Sawhney said Tuesday.
‘The Delhi government did not give due credit to the MCD. We were cornered in the opening ceremony. Nearly 15,000 municipal employees slogged to make the Games a success,’ Sawhney, who heads the civic body, told IANS.
‘Nearly Rs.1,500 crore have been spent on the MCD’s work for the Commonwealth Games,’ he added.
The civic body also charged Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with making the event a ‘political affair’.
‘According to international protocols on the arrival of the Queen’s Baton, the mayor needs to be honoured in the ceremony. I was not even invited to the inaugural ceremony,’ Sawhney said.
The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Delhi has levelled harsh criticism against the Delhi government for making the civic body a scapegoat in the run-up to the Games.
‘The MCD was blamed for all the wrong things happening before the Games. Once the opening ceremony turned out to be grand, we were cornered. Be it sanitation, cleanliness or dengue, the MCD was put at fault,’ Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta said.
Meanwhile, the civic body claimed it will continue with its cleanliness drive at all the 11 Games venues.
‘Irrespective of discrimination, we will continue our efforts to make the Games a successful event marked in the history of India,’ Sawhney said.
