Amitabh Bachchan won't be CWG Brand Ambassador: Kalmadi

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Tuesday ruled out making Amitabh Bachchan the brand ambassador for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. "Amitabh Bachchan will not be the brand ambassador for Commonwealth Games," Kalmadi, who is the Congress MP from Pune, said at a function at the house of Delhi Chief Minister Shieli Dikshit. Kalmadi's statement is seen as one more snub by the Congress to the Bollywood star who has been at the receiving end of the party's barbs after he became the brand ambassador of Bharatiya Janata Party-rule Gujarat. The BJP had on Monday written a letter to Kalmadi asking him to appoint Amitabh as Commonwealth Games brand ambassador.

Senior BJP leader VK Malhotra, who is also the IOC Vice President and an executive board member of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, sent the letter backing Amitabh as Commonwealth Games brand ambassador saying the actor is an "icon for youngsters". Congress has been targeting Amitabh since March 24 when he attended the inauguration of the second carriageway of Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai. Some Congress leaders including Maharashtra Chief Minsiter Ashok Chavan expressed their unhappiness over the presence of Amitabh at the function. Congress again took on the Bollywood superstar on Monday asking him to clear his stand on the 2002 Gujarat riots. "It is high time that Mr Amitabh Bachchan comes out and very strongly tells this country as to where does he stand on the question of Mr Narendra Modi and his government's complicity in the Gujarat riots," said Congress MP Manish Tewari.