India runs the risk of embarrassment

Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's assessment that the Commonwealth Games were a woeful waste of time and expenditure was a case of the wrong man making the right comment.

Aiyar's observations were spot on — except that they have embarrassed his party, which is hoping the Games in September will boost India's global image.

With weeks left, the organisers are behind schedule. Charges of corruption have been added to those of a lack of preparation, as well as the fact that top global athletes have pulled out.

At a time when the country is reeling from price increases, Congress can ill afford to stage an unsuccessful event that has already consumed huge sums of money. The benefits from these Games — if any — will only be felt by a select few in the capital, and definitely not be India's underprivileged.

The government needs to salvage the Games fast. Otherwise, it will be a spectacle of ineptitude and incompetence.