Hang me if I’m proved guilty: Kalmadi

NEW DELHI - “Hang me if I am proved guilty,” Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi declared dramatically Monday, even as he ruled out his resignation on the graft charges that have hit the Games preparations, terming this a “conspiracy against India”.

“I am ready to face a judicial enquiry after the Games on corruption charges, hang me if I am proved guilty,” he told CNN-IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai in an interview

The “conspiracy against the Games is a conspiracy against India” and a “few pictures of dirty toilets does not mean that the Games Village is not world class”, Kalmadi maintained.

Kalmadi said he had never considered resigning at any stage.

“Never, my team of four thousand people are working day and night and I always knew that it will be a great Games and the government of India has given me a total support,” he said.

“I take responsibility for mess but must be given credit if the Games are a success,” Kalmadi said.

He charged former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyer - a prominent detractor - for not having moved on Games for two years and also trained his guns on Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper, who last week had described the conditions in the Village as “filthy and unlivable”.

“Mike Hooper has been in India for four years, what was he doing,” Kalmadi asked.