In his first comments since being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, Sachin Tendulkar today said that the ?biggest honour? not withstanding, he would not give up cricket to join politics.
In his first comments since being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, Sachin Tendulkar today said that the “biggest honour” not withstanding, he would not give up cricket to join politics.
“I have been nominated because I am a sportsman and not a politician. I am a sportsman and will always remain one. I am not going to enter politics giving up cricket, which is my life. I will continue to play cricket,” Tendulkar said at a function organised by a realty firm to felicitate him on Maharashtra Day.
To a large, cheering crowd of mainly students and IT professionals, Tendulkar said it was “the biggest honour to be nominated to Rajya Sabha”. “The honour has come from the President of the country... The likes of Lata Mangeshkar and Prithviraj Kapoor have graced the House. It is an honour...to follow in their footsteps,” he said.
Tendulkar said he had played for over 22 years, and believed the nomination to Parliament was the result of what he had achieved on the field. “This is the appreciation of a sportsman, not of a politician,” he said, adding, “I will contribute my expertise in cricket in the House”.
Tendulkar's Rajya Sabha nomination had been criticised by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray as the Congress s “Dirty Picture”. “It is Congress s dirtiest play... the real Dirty Picture is this,” Thackeray had said. In an editorial, Sena mouthpiece Saamna said, “Crores of Sachin s fans would have liked to call him 'Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar'. Alas, he will now only be 'Sachin Tendulkar, MP'.”
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