Suresh Kalmadi : Former Union Minister and Congressman dies at the age of 81
Suresh Kalmadi : Senior Congressman and former Union Minister Suresh Kalmadi died in Pune on Tuesday at the age of 81 after a protracted illness.
His wife, a son and daughter-in-law, two married daughters and sons-in-law, and grandkids survive the former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president.
Kalmadi was a well-known figure in Indian sports administration for more than ten years, having previously held the position of Union Minister of State for Railways. An accomplished politician from Pune, he served as the city’s representative in Parliament on various occasions and held a number of important roles during the course of his lengthy political career.
On May 1, 1944, Suresh Kalmadi was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu, which is now Chennai. His family’s origins may be found in Mangalore, Karnataka, where his parents lived before to his birth, displaying the Konkani ancestry typical of Konkan coast cultures.
He concluded his secondary education at St. Vincent’s High School in Pune, Maharashtra, where he also completed his early education. After completing his undergraduate studies, he obtained his masters degree from Fergusson College in Pune.
His future enlistment in the military was made possible by this civilian schooling. After attending the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, he moved on to the Air Force Flying College in Jodhpur and Allahabad for specialized aviation training.
In 1982, Kalmadi made his official political debut when he was nominated and elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member from Maharashtra, supported by the Congress (S) group under Sharad Pawar.
His first party affiliation was with Congress(S), a sectarian faction of the Indian National Congress that was established in 1978 as a result of internal strife. He also presided over the Indian Youth Congress (Socialist) from 1981 to 1986 at this time.
Kalmadi joined the reunified party structure in 1986 when Sharad Pawar decided to re-merge Congress(S) into the Indian National Congress. His long-term association with the Indian National Congress (INC) was formed by this merger.
In following legislative sessions, he served as the INC’s representative in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for three years between 1982 and 1996. In April 2011, due to corruption investigations surrounding the 2010 Commonwealth Games, his party membership was suspended.
As a member of the Indian National Congress, Suresh Kalmadi was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra for four times. His first term started in 1982, and he served three more terms beginning in 1988, 1994, and 1998. In May 2004, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, ending his last term in the Rajya Sabha.
Additionally, he represented the Pune seat in the Lok Sabha for three times. First elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in the 1996 general election, he was re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004 and the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009, which ended in 2014.
In 1996, Kalmadi was chosen as the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) president. He went on to win reelection for many times, including his fourth straight four-year term from 2008 to 2012 in 2008.
The IOA served as India’s National Olympic Committee throughout his term, managing national sports federations and organizing the nation’s participation in Olympic competitions.
Kalmadi’s active president came to an end in October 2012 when he said he would not run for reelection for a fifth term in response to pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). From 1996 until 2011, he served as president of the IOA.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) detained Suresh Kalmadi on April 25, 2011, on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, corruption, and cheating related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The arrest came after inquiries into alleged financial irregularities, namely the uncompetitive awarding of a Rs 107 crore contract for the Timing, Scoring, and Results (TSR) system to Omega, a Swiss company. The agency claimed that the exchequer suffered an unlawful loss as a result of this judgment. At the time, Kalmadi served as head of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee. He refuted the accusations, calling them politically motivated.
Kalmadi and nine other people were charged by a Delhi court in February 2013 with criminal conspiracy, forgery, and cheating. The issue concerned the alleged illegal award of a TSR contract for Rs 141.21 crore to Swiss Timing, eschewing a lesser proposal of Rs 62 crore from a Spanish company. Kalmadi claimed that there was no misconduct throughout the procurement process and entered a not guilty plea.
On June 3, 2015, Kalmadi was given the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) President’s Award in the midst of continuing court procedures after being released on bail in January 2012. During his 13-year term as AAA president from 1999 to 2013, he made significant contributions to the growth of athletics in Asia, which were acknowledged with this honor.