By Abhishek Roy, IANS,
New Delhi : He breezes in and out of his ninth floor office here, attending unending meetings in between making flying visits to Commonwealth Games venues to check progress. Even as his detractors want him held guilty for all the sleaze that has come to be associated with India’s biggest sporting show and the country races against time to finish preparations, Suresh Kalmadi, the man in the hot seat, is unfazed.
Kalmadi, who looks much younger and fitter than his 66 years, is clocking close to an 18-hour work day as chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC). He says he is game for any battle or inquiry with the same zeal and gusto with which he fought the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan as a young fighter pilot.
He does seem to have a battle on his hands, with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) combing through every contract of the organising committee and the media going to town with the alleged corrupt and dubious deals.
But the resourceful man from Pune in western Maharashtra, who is also an MP of the ruling Congress party, is certainly putting up a fight.
Kalmadi’s day starts at 6 a.m. at Kalmadi House on 2, Kamaraj Lane, in central Delhi as he scans through the newspapers which can depress anyone when one is dragged into controversy after controversy. But he doesn’t waste time brooding over inspired stories, or so his demeanour suggests.
CGOC secretary Lalit Bhanot, a close confidante of Kalmadi, said that the chairman has 37 functional areas under him and takes special care in meeting officials of all the departments concerned.
“His series of meetings start from early in the day at his residence and there are no fixed schedule. Everyday Kalmadi will make sure to meet the officer in charge of all the functional areas that are under him,” Bhanot told IANS.
After a shower and a quick bite, Kalmadi is all set for the CGOC headquarters, which is situated right opposite to the 18th century Jantar Mantar near downtown Connaught Place, Delhi’s central business district. By 9.30 a.m., his pilot car screeches to a halt at the New Delhi City Centre – Tower II, the Games headquarters.
“He sticks to his time. Every day he is in by 9.30 a.m. sharp. If he is not at the office, he is attending some meeting or the other elsewhere or visiting the stadiums,” said the receptionist at the Games headquarters.
Once he is in his ninth floor office, the officials are already there to kick off a series of meetings. His top aides and media advisors brief him about various things he needs to know.
His core group of officials — chief executive Jarnail Singh, Bhanot and director general V.K. Verma — join in a huddle to discuss policy decisions.
With the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games now becoming a hot topic of debate in parliament, Kalmadi also makes his presence felt in the Lok Sabha, though he has been given permission by the Speaker to skip the house in view of his preoccupation.
With foreign delegates pouring in every day, Kalmadi along with his trusted lieutenant Bhanot spends the evening formulating the business plans for the Games as the CGOC has the tough task of repaying the Rs.16 billion loan ($320 million) it has taken from the government.
He is busy peering through official papers or holding meetings right through the day. In fact, the lights on the ninth floor of the CGOC headquarters are the last ones to be switched off and that’s the time for the ‘boss’ to leave, usually well past 10 p.m.
Bhanot said that Kalmadi is the last person to leave the headquarters.
“This happens everyday. For the last one year I have never seen him leaving before 10 p.m. What surprises me is the fact that even after working so late in the night, he starts his day so early,” said Bhanot.
(Abhishek Roy can be contacted at [email protected])