Athletics
NCP chief Sharad Pawar faces backlash for parking vehicles in athletics track
During his visit to the Shivchattrapati Sports Complex, Pawar and his associates parked their vehicles on the athletics track of the stadium.
Sharad Pawar (Source: Hindustan Times)
The chief of the Nationalist Congress Party, Sharad Pawar, has been caught in the centre of a controversy yet again, this time related to sports.
A former chief of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Sharad Pawar, visited the sports centre in Balewadi along with Maharashtra Sports Minister Sunil Kedar and Minister of State Aditi Tatkare on Saturday.
During their visit to the Shivchattrapati Sports Complex, they parked their vehicles on the athletics track of the stadium. This has led to a huge uproar on social media, with the opposition parties accusing him of damaging the sporting infrastructure.
In fact, the Indian Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju, himself took to his Twitter handle to express his disappointment about the incident.
"I am personally very sad to see such disrespect for sports and sporting ethics in our country," Rijiju tweeted.
The Maharashtra Sports Department, in its defence, maintained that it had allowed the parking of the only vehicle inside the stadium, that too on the concrete side. This was to ensure that Pawar, who has an issue with his leg, does not face any trouble walking.
But the situation turned haywire as all the visitors parked the vehicles inside the stadium and on the athletics track.
The ministers had visited the stadium to supervise the work of an International Sports University, which is in under-construction.
