Politicians, players jostle for National Games passes

RANCHI - It doesn’t matter if you are a politician, a sportsperson or a reporter — everyone here is jostling for passes of the opening ceremony of the 34th National Games to be held here Saturday.

Former chief minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) President Babulal Marandi said that he had not received an invitation and the passes of the opening ceremony.

Like Marandi, the unhappy lot includes many legislators and ministers.

Though many legislators have been provided with four passes each, they complain of these being inadequate. Many ministers have been provided with eight to ten passes each, while some of them complain of not getting even one.

The worst suffers are the sportspersons and the journalists. Till Friday evening, many journalists were not able to get the ceremony’s passes. The players contingents from many states had to face similar difficulties in getting passes.

The accreditation forms for the passes that were submitted a month ago to the government, went missing. And at the last moment, the forms were resubmitted. The passes are being made at the sports complex and the process started only Thursday.

Karnataka Olympic Association joint-secretary R. Prakash said that they had to go from sports complex to the information centre for the passes.

Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA) spokesperson Madhukant Pathak said: “We are under too much pressure for the passes.”