The incident happened when the NCP chief and State Ministers went to the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex to attend a review meeting.
The ruling tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra faced criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which accused State Ministers as well as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar of using a sports track at Pune’s Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex for parking their cars during a review meeting on Sunday.
After Pune BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole posted images taken from a vernacular news report of the MVA leaders parking their vehicles on the track, the incident drew flak from other BJP leaders, including Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju.
Mr. Pawar, a former president of the Indian Olympics Association (IOA), had visited the sports complex at Balewadi along with Maharashtra Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sunil Kedar and Minister of State Aditi Tatkare to review a project.
“I’m personally very sad to see such disrespect for sports and sporting ethics in our country,” said Mr. Rijiju, while quoting Mr. Shirole’s tweet on the incident.
The country lacked in sufficient sports facilities and all sports centres needed proper care, he said.
‘Grievous insult’
Demanding an unconditional apology from the MVA leadership, Mr. Shirole, the legislator from Pune’s Shivajinagar constituency, said that converting a racetrack that was almost venerated by athletes was “a grievous insult to their sensibilities” while chastising Mr. Kedar for taking the matter extremely lightly.
“The incident is just one more proof of the sheer insensitivity of this government … Despite knowing that there was an elevator, the Ministers callously parked their SUVs on a ₹5-crore athletic track and turning it into a VVIP parking lot. It is one thing for the State Sports Commissioner [Om Prakash Bakoria] to apologise for this disgraceful act, but when will the high and mighty of the MVA government apologise to the athletic community for disrespecting and defiling their hallowed ground with such a brazen misuse of power,” said Mr. Shirole.
Accusing the MVA leaders of offering “lame excuses”, he further said that not even a single vehicle ought to have been allowed on the track.
Mr. Shirole said that Mr. Pawar, who headed several sports associations and committees in the past, “ought to have known better”.
Following the backlash, State sports authorities, including Mr. Bakoria and Pune administration officials, came out with apologies.
Authorities said that as Mr. Pawar had problems walking, he was allowed to park his car on the cement track. They further said that only one vehicle was to be parked on the cement concrete road near the track — that of the NCP chief, who had asked for permission to do so because of a problem in his leg. The other vehicles had reportedly parked without permission and remained parked until the meeting ended.
“Mr. Pawar had an issue with his leg…if he was taken from another side of the building, he would have to climb two to three staircases. Hence, only his vehicle was allowed on the cemented track and the security on duty were informed the same as well. But unfortunately, the vehicles came in a row and parked there. On behalf of the sports department, I apologise and assure that such an incident will not be repeated again,” Mr. Bakoria said.
