Suresh Kalmadi unlikely to be stripped of responsibilities

Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding him, Suresh Kalmadi is unlikely to be stripped of his responsibilities of conducting the October Commonwealth Games.

This sense emerged today at a meeting chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh on the Games where Kalmadi stressed that the event should be allowed to get over after which he would be ready to face any investigation, sources said.

At the meeting, Kalmadi said the controversies surrounding the CWG organising committee had demoralised officials who were not even ready to sign papers, the sources said.

Kalmadi and some other top officials of the OC have been mired in allegations of corruption and other irregularities, prompting the prime minister to step in and review the preparedness for the event starting on October 3.

However, at the moment, the government does not want to remove Kalmadi as head of OC as he has been associated with the Games so far and has experience of conducting such events, the sources said.

Emerging from the 90-minute meeting, Kalmadi said that there was "no pressure" on him to quit.