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While everybody is going gaga over the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games, former athletes Milkha Singh and India's sprint queen PT Usha are upset. They are unhappy about the raw deal they got from Suresh Kalmadi at the Games and are planning to meet the Prime Minister.
"The Games were a success, but for that we must thank our stars who toiled hard to bring laurels to the country in the otherwise jinxed 19th Commonwealth Games. Their hard work has helped India to win 38 gold medals out of a total of 101 and ensure that India finished second above England and Canada," Milkha told rediff.com.
"I and other sportspersons are sore that big names of yesteryear, namely Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, Ashok Kumar, Sriram Singh and many others, were not invited to witness the Games let alone extending special invitations for the opening and closing ceremonies. We request Prime Minister Dr Singh to intervene and make sure that in future at least two rows in the special enclosures are reserved for the invited sportspersons," he said.
He criticised Kalmadi and Lalit Bhanot for taking all the credit, as "if the remaining members of the Indian Olympic Association did nothing".
"Shooting got the maximum gold medals and yet there was no mention of the name of [former ace shooter and secretary-general of the IOA] Randhir Singh's contribution; he is a shooter of international fame," Milkha said.
"I don't know if Kalmadi or Bhanot ran even a single metre on the field. Maybe, they ran to save themselves; they must have done a bit of sprinting in critical situations," said the former sprinter.
Meanwhile, petroleum minister Murali Deora has announced a package of Rs 9 crore to be distributed to the medal winners.