New Delhi:
The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on Tuesday virtually rejected the demand for making Amitabh Bachchan the brand ambassador for the prestigious event to be held here from October 3 to 14.
"We are thinking of brand ambassadors from sports like Milkha Singh, P T Usha. We are thinking of young people," Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi told reporters when asked about the suggestion of BJP leader V K Malhotra that Bachchan be made the main brand ambassador of the event.
Asked whether the organisers will make anybody from the Bollywood the brand ambassador, Kalmadi said nothing has been finalised yet.
"Right now we have Shera, the mascot. We have not thought of the issue of making somebody brand ambassador," he said.
Malhotra, who is the Vice President of Indian Olympic Association, had on Sunday written a letter to Kalmadi suggesting that Bachchan be appointed the main brand ambassador of the mega sporting event.
Attacking the BJP for suggesting Bachchan's name as brand ambassador for the event, Congress had yesterday said the party has a habit of "fishing in troubled waters".
There has been bad blood between Congress and the actor, who was once a Congress MP and close to the Gandhis, and things came to a head after his presence in a Maharashtra government function in Mumbai last week. A section of Congress objected to his presence as the actor is a brand ambassador for BJP-ruled Gujarat.
Asked about making Bachchan the brand ambassador for the Games, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, "you ask Kalmadi or you ask V K Malhotra."
When insisted, she told reporters, "I thought Shera is the brand ambassador for the Games."