'Vanity project': Congress' Karti Chidambaram slams India's 'Olympic bid'
The Congress leader said it is better to invest in training Indian athletes and win a respectable number of medals in the next few editions.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram
NEW DELHI: As India submitted a Letter of Intent (LoI) expressing its desire to host the 2036 Olympics and Paralympics, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Tuesday slammed hosting of the games as a "vanity project" and said the country should learn from the bitter experiences of Athens and Rio.
The Congress leader said it is better to invest in training Indian athletes and win a respectable number of medals in the next few editions.
India has submitted an LoI to the International Olympic Committee's Future Host Commission, taking the first concrete step in an ambitious plan after months of informal dialogue with the IOC.
The letter was submitted by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on October 1, according to a source in the sports ministry.
In a post on X, Chidambaram said, "Which is the city that is bidding? This is a vanity project. We shouldn't be aiming to hold the Olympics. Our legacy use of stadia is abysmal."
"We should learn from the bitter experiences & post repercussions of Athens & Rio. It's better to invest in training our athletes & win a respectable number of medals in the next few editions," the Congress MP from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu said.
While Athens (Greece) hosted the Olympics in 2004, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) hosted the Games in 2016. Both Athens and Rio had reportedly faced economic issues after hosting the Olympic Games.
In 2022, Chidambaram had spoken in Parliament against bidding for the Olympics.
"Please, in your ego, don't bid for the Olympics, it will bankrupt the country and will not do anything," he had told the government in Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first talked about his government's aspiration to host the 2036 Olympics last year.
A decision on the host will not be taken before the IOC elections next year and India will also have to face competition from several other nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey which are positioning themselves as strong contenders to host the sporting spectacle