Commonwealth Games: Queen's Baton reaches Kolkata - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Amidst allegations of corruption in several Commonwealth Games-related projects, the Queen's Baton reached Kolkata on Sunday. "I hope and pray that they are able to hold a prestigious tournament in a big way. Otherwise India will never manage to host another big event like Olympics," said Gurbaksh Singh, former hockey Olympian. "This is about the prestige of our country... these fully useless officials should resign immediately," said Prasun Banerjee, a former footballer. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has lashed out at the central government for compromising the country's prestige and stakes. The Central Vigilance Commission had found alleged irregularities in several Commonwealth Games related works being carried out by civic and construction agencies in the national capital. "We are going to raise the issue of unpreparedness for the Commonwealth Games in this week itself. There are various charges of corruption and irregularities by the Central Vigilance Commission ( CVC ), which is a senior body, which is a matter of concern," said Prakash Javdekar, BJP spokesperson , in New Delhi . India is expecting about two million tourists in New Delhi for the Games, as well as about 10,000 athletes from 71 teams representing 54 Commonwealth member states.