The Shiv Sena, ever keen to fan a perception that Sachin Tendulkar has been “sympathetic” to the party, appears rattled at the thought of “losing” him to the Congress.
The party today accused the Congress of trying to “appropriate” the cricket icon by getting him nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Sachin has never been known to make any statement supporting the Sena. Rather, he has had an uneasy relationship with the party and has made statements at odds with the Sena’s regionalist politics.
“Sachin should be extra alert about the Congress because its intentions are not transparent and commendable. It wants to play politics with his name and deflect attention from Bofors and the other scams…” Sanjay Raut, Sena Rajya Sabha member and executive editor of party mouthpiece Saamna, said.
While claiming that his party welcomed Sachin’s nomination, he said: “Why was Sachin not given the Bharat Ratna? He is still playing; he has no intention of retiring. The government could have picked an ex-cricketer like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev or Sourav Ganguly.”
Calls to accord a similar nomination to Sourav came from the CPI too. “I welcome the decision to nominate Tendulkar… but when Sourav is in his top form, his name too should have been considered,” Gurudas Dasgupta said.
Trinamul leader Sudip Bandopadhyay backed the Centre’s move: “It will inspire a lot of young people.”
Sachin’s India team-mate Virender Sehwag seemed tickled. Before tonight’s IPL game, he tweeted: “My first ipl game against a rajya sabha member 😉 Hope the weather holds we get a full game today.” Sachin cannot be called an MP, though, before he takes oath.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, a rival of the Sena, said “no politics should be seen” in Sachin’s nomination. Raj, who knows the cricketer personally, said: “Sachin’s acceptance of the nomination does not mean he is joining the Congress.”
The trigger for Raut’s reaction was a remark by Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam that his party would welcome Sachin if he wished to join it.
Nirupam, a former Shiv Sainik, added that yesterday’s meeting between Sonia Gandhi and the cricketer should not be “politicised”.
Raut, asked if the Sena was miffed because Sachin is said to have once been sympathetic to the party, said: “Even today his relationship with Balasaheb (Bal Thackeray) is very good.”
Sachin spent his formative years learning cricket in Shivaji Park in Dadar and living in Bandra East’s Sahitya Sahawas Colony, both considered Sena bastions. But he has never spoken about his political preferences.
In November 2009, though, when the Sena and Raj Thackeray’s party were engaged in one-upmanship over their “Maharashtra for Marathi speakers” plank, Sachin said he was a proud Maharashtrian but saw himself as an Indian first.
Bal Thackeray hit out at him in Saamna, advising him to concentrate on cricket. He claimed Sachin’s statement had “hurt Marathi pride”.
Two days later, Raut lauded Gavaskar in Saamna as a “true Maharashtrian” and a supporter of Maharashtrians who wished to make it big in national cricket. Sachin, he said, had not even helped his childhood friend Vinod Kambli during his bad times. “Sachin is not greater than Maharashtra,” Raut wrote.
The chill thawed a bit in 2010 after Sachin’s ODI double hundred against South Africa. Bal Thackeray wrote in Saamna that Sachin was already a “Bharat Ratna”.
“Shivaji wielded the sword. Similarly, Sachin wields the bat,” the Sena boss said.
————–Agenies