The Commonwealth Games Federation and the Delhi government were today locked in a verbal duel with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit slamming CGF CEO Mike Hooper’s reported comment blaming traffic snarls in the city on India’s vast population.
“It is really a very unkind and undiplomatic remark that has been made,” Dikshit told reporters here.
However, Hooper received strong backing from CGF boss Mike Fennell, who insisted that the New Zealander neither blamed the Indian government nor made any disparaging comments about India, as was reported in the media.
Hooper had blamed authorities for the lack of preparations for the Games and reportedly attributed traffic snarls in Delhi to India’s “population hazard”.
