Why is Sachin Tendulkar so displeased with BMC & State Government?
The news of a BMC committee’s decision to shelve the proposal to honour cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar with a grand civic reception only confirms his displeasure not just with the Shiv Sena-ruled civic body but the state government as well.
The law committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation decided to call off the proposal as Tendulkar never responded to the civic body’s proposal ever since he was first approached almost 10 years ago. A pucca Mumbaikar since his birth, Tendulkar never took the idea of his felicitation in good stead. Several letters and attempts by the BMC administration to convince him have gone in vain.
The same happened with the proposals approved by the state government – a grand felicitation at Wankhede Stadium where he played his last match before retirement, and setting up of a state-of-the-art museum as a mark of appreciation for his superlative performance.
Incidentally, the decisions by the BMC and state government came in the same year – 2010, when BMC was ruled by Shiv Sena, and the state government was headed by Congress CM Ashok Chavan. People in the know said numerous attempts were made to contact Tendulkar for his consent to go ahead, but he never responded.
After waiting for 10 long years, now the BMC will shelve the proposal officially. After the law committee, the proposal will be moved for approval by the BMC’s general body. It may be recalled that the last collaboration between Tendulkar and the BMC was seen when he did a video film on ‘save water’, a campaign launched by the civic body while the city was facing a water shortage.
It is also said that a couple of things may have gone against the spirit of organizing the reception. First, when he said, “I am an Indian first and Mumbai is for all,” amidst a political controversy involving Shiv Sena and MNS soon after the state assembly elections in 2009. An editorial in Saamana, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, slammed him saying the statement had hurt many Marathi people. From the cricket pitch you have entered the political pitch, it had said.
Secondly, it was said that the legendary batsman was hurt when he received a BMC notice soon after he moved to his new mansion at Bandra (W). The notice was issued for occupying the bungalow before a formal Occupation Certificate (OC) was issued. The OC enables one to occupy premises legally, and it is mandatory. A penalty was also levied for flouting the BMC rules. Between 2010 to date numerous attempts were made to convince him but he never responded except for a letter which did not have a word about his views on the civic reception.
Similarly, Tendulkar never responded to the state cabinet’s decision on erecting a museum where his bats, mementos, and cricket gear were to be kept on display. In the absence of any positive response, the state government could not go ahead, it was said. Reminders too were sent but hardly any response came in. Besides this, the state cabinet had also decided to felicitate him with a memento bat with signatures of the cabinet members. This proposal too met with the same fate and yielded no response.
In the meantime, Tendulkar was conferred with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour of the nation by the then Congress government, which also recommended him as President’s nominee to Rajya Sabha. While the state government headed by a Congress CM failed to take any mileage on his proximity to the Congress high command in Delhi, the Shiv Sena took it as a snipe, his preference to accept both the honours bestowed by the Congress-led Union government in Delhi.
In this scenario, it will be interesting to see if the state government shelves both the proposals officially for the record when it is headed by Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray with Congress and NCP as partners.