Bhubaneswar, July 2: More than half of the total tickets for the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship, which is going to be held here for the first time between July 5 and July 9, have already been sold.

Sports department officials said that all the tickets for the inaugural ceremony had been sold. However, there was also a whiff of politics in the event with the BJP taking potshots at the BJD government.

The authorities have fixed the ticket price at Rs 50 for each session while there will be two sessions in a day (8am-11am and 5pm-11pm). Sports department officials said that ticket would be mandatory any spectator above two years of age. The online booking for tickets has already started and spectators can book the tickets online throu-gh www.eventsnow.com. The multipurpose stadium has a capacity of around 11,000.

Hundreds of spectators were spotted standing in queue in front of the ticket counter at the stadium today. "The Kalinga Stadium had already hosted several sporting events, including the hockey Champions Trophy. But for the first time we will witness track events, such as long jump and high jump, here. We are eagerly waiting for the start of the championship," said Sourav Mishra, a college student.

The preparation for the inaugural ceremony is at the final stage with the participants making a rehearsal at the stadium. Besides, police today also conducted a security drill at the stadium. Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi also visited the stadium today to take stock of the preparation.

In another development, the 29th Ekamra Walks, the only guided heritage tour of the city, had a surprise gift for all its 36 walkers as the beautiful mascot of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships (AAC-2017) - Olly - came as a special guest to cheer the crowd and gear up.

When Olly reached the venue on time and proceeded towards the starting venue, Mukteswar Temple, the epitome of the Kalingan temple architecture, all the 36 participants greeted the games mascot with the warmth of their hearts and many were seen giving him hugs and wishing him all success for the smooth conduct of the event.

Debashish Sarangi, a regular at the Ekamra Walks, termed the visit of Olly to Ekamra Walks as "an extraordinary gesture on the part of the civic and tourism authorities to promote both the heritage walk and the athletics championships, as they are complementary to each other".

Today, the heritage walkers visited Mukteswar temple, Parsurameswar temple, Sampurna Jaleswar temple, Kotitirtheswar temple, Bindu Sagar, Ananta Vasudeb Lingaraj temple, Sari temple, Mohini temple and then went to Ekamra Van, the medicinal plant garden. They also saw a beautifully choreographed Odissi dance, inside Art Vision, the institute, run by Illeana Citaristi, an exponent in Odissi and Chhow.

Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club also organised a cycling ride to support Indian team at the championships. Around 15 cyclists joined the event and rode 60km around the city to create awareness on the meet. "Cycling is not about exercise but also engaging it with the society as a responsible citizen. So we conducted a ride to support our team. Hope to see more medals this time," said Ajay Nanda, a member of the team.

However, state BJP leaders today criticised BJD for "trying to take political mileage" from the athletics meet being hosted by the state government.

BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan alleged that the government was printing the photograph of chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the achievements of his government on the advertisement being released for the event. "The government is trying to take political mileage," he alleged.

Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram also alleged that the international sports event was being managed by a "coterie" of the state government. "They are not allowing others to take credit for the show," said Oram. The Union minister has been invited to the closing ceremony of the sports event. State sports minister and BJD leader Chandra Sarathi Behera, however, said that the BJP leaders should shun "petty mentality".

"All should join hands together for this event. They should not spoil the event by politicising it," he said.