Sheila to stay put in Delhi till Games

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Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has decided to stay put in the capital till the Commonwealth Games are organised in a bid to ensure that nothing goes wrong in the successful hosting of the mega sporting event. The fallout of

her decision has been that she would not undertake any foreign trips during this period. To further stress the seriousness of her intentions, the chief minister has instructed her officials that she would not even be leaving for any city within the country except for unavoidable reasons.
Though the politicians make a beeline to various European destinations to beat the scorching heat of the capital, the chief minister has turned down the proposals to undertake foreign trips. A senior Delhi government official said that there were proposals for the chief minister to go on three foreign tours recently but she turned down all of them by remarking “not now”.
A close aid of the chief minister explained that there is a clear instruction from Ms Dikshit that she would not leave Delhi for any reason till the Commonwealth Games are over. “Forget about foreign tours, she has decided not even to go to any other cities within the country. The reason being that the chief minister wants to keep the officials on a tight leash by constant monitoring of the work of various projects related to the mega sporting event due to take place in Delhi in October this year,” the close aid told this newspaper.
Ms Dikshit is known to spend about a week in Shimla to beat the heat of Delhi’s summer every year but this time she will give a miss to her favourite destination also.
The other day, the chief minister also skipped a meeting attended by the former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, where she was the chief guest due to her stated engagement with an event related to Commonwealth Games.
“The presence of the chief minister in Delhi ensures that the officials do not drop their guard in meeting the timelines of various Commonwealth Games projects. She is ensuring that the officials are on their toes,” the CM’s aid stated.
Ms Dikshit is keeping a close watch on the progress of the crucial Barapulla Nulla elevated stretch, which will link the Games Village with the JLN Stadium, where the main events will take place apart from other infrastructure projects.