Sachin Tendulkar’s entry into the political pitch as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha has been greeted with ovation and a few bouncers from politicians. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, BSP chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhaya and Congress leaders Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Raj Babbar welcomed the move. But Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said Tendulkar should instead be given the Bharat Ratna.
“Members of Parliament are not given awards like Padmashree, Padmabhu-shan and Padmavi-bhushan. We need to see whether this rule is also applicable to Bharat Ratna and whether this is Congress’ ploy to keep Sachin away from Bharat Ratna for at least six years,” Mr Raut said.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray however said that it was an honour given to Mr Tendulkar and it would be entirely his decision to accept it or not. The MNS leader also rubbished the suggestion that Tendulkar’s Rajya Sabha nominations indicates his proximity with the Congress. “When NDA was in power, Lata didi (Mangeshkar) was nominated to Rajya Sabha. She did not start campaigning for BJP after that. Similarly, Sachin will not start campaigning for the Congress. It is an honour given to him because of his achievements,” he said.
The Congress’ Mr Chaturvedi said, “The Government, country and Parliament are above any individual. One person can neither build nor destroy the fate of a party or a government. The sooner this confusion is removed, the better. The kind of mindset Shiv Sena has, it can say anything,” he said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Kumar said, “We will get to see how he performs his role in Parliament. I welcome his nomination to the Rajya Sabha.”