Sharad Pawar, others use athlete track as parking lot, invite flak

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and seniors ministers in the Maharashtra government used a track for athletes as a parking lot during a meeting in Pune. VVIP cars were parked on the track at Pune's Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. Reacting to the photographs, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said they made him sad. "I'm personally very sad to see such disrespect for sports and sporting ethics in our country," Rijiju tweeted.

Sports Commissioner of Maharashtra Om Prakash Bakoria told ANI that since Sharad Pawar had some issue with his leg, only his vehicle was allowed to be parked on the cemented track. But others also parked their car there. He apologised for the incident.

According to ANI, the ministers did not want to use the elevators to reach the second floor of the sports complex which houses a meeting room. To avoid the inconvenience, the ministers decided to take their cars up to the second floor of the complex and parked them on the athletic track.