When Sachin Tendulkar scored a golden duck in his maiden Parliamentary speech over
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the master blaster, while being an ace performer on the field, has never quite shown the same consistency in Parliament. In fact, as a member of the Rajya Sabha, Sachin Tendulkar has had a rather poor record. According to PRS Legislative Research (a non-profit organisation that aims to make Indian legislative process more transparent and participatory), as a member of the standing committee for information and technology, Tendulkar has an attendance of only eight per cent. But even on the rare occasions when the former cricketer does make an appearance in the House, he simply manages to score a duck – that is he does not get to speak at all.
Case in point: on December 21, Tendulkar was supposed to speak in Parliament about the “right to play and the future of sports in India”. He had moved a Short Discussion Motion on the same and was supposed to address several issues including the coverage of Central Health Guarantee Scheme (CGHS) for international medal winners and the adequate inclusion of sports in school curriculum. But as it turns out, his maiden innings in Rajya Sabha (in terms of speeches delivered) — Tendulkar’s speech, or, at least, an attempt at it — was met with massive ruckus.
It wasn’t that no one wanted Tendulkar to speak. Congress MPs in Parliament created the ruckus, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi make an appearance in the Upper House.
Why?
They were miffed over PM Modi's comments during the Gujarat election campaign: the PM had alleged that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have been conspiring with Pakistani officials to overturn poll results in the state. The MPs kept shouting, “Pradhan mantri sabha mein aao (PM come to Rajya Sabha)”, as Tendulkar made repeated attempts (lasting almost ten minutes) at delivering his speech.
In the end, a visibly frustrated Venkaiah Naidu, the vice-president and chairman of the House – despite issuing repeated warnings to the Congress MPs that their protests would not go on record – had to stop live telecast of Rajya Sabha before adjourning the Upper House for the day; but not before adding, "We're discussing about sports and you don't have the sporting spirit."
Naidu also said that no apology would likely be issued by the PM as his comments were not made inside the Parliament's premises.
Needless to say, Tendulkar did not get to bat.
Following the adjournment, member of the Samajwadi Party and Rajya Sabha MP, Jaya Bachchan, speaking to the press, criticised the Congress MPs: “He [Sachin Tendulkar] has earned name for India at the world stage, it is a matter of shame that he was not allowed to speak even when everyone knew it was on today's agenda. Are only politicians allowed to speak?”
Ananth Kumar, a BJP member and the Union minister for chemicals and fertilisers too condemened this behaviour, saying: “We strongly condemn how Congress MPs protested in Rajya Sabha and did not allow Sachin Tendulkar ji to speak, despite repeated requests by Rajya Sabha Chairman.”
That Sachin Tendulkar would not get to speak in Parliament was already predicted. A Hindustan Times report from the morning of December 21 addressed the risks of his speech being cut short due to parliamentary ruckus.
Sachin Tendulkar’s track record in Parliament has come under fire previously. In April 2017, An IANS report suggested that despite his poor attendance, Tendulkar had drawn salary and expenses amounting to Rs 58.8 lakh. This seems a tad hypocritical when you compare it with the fact that it was Tendulkar himself who turned down a type-7 bungalow allotted to him on New Delhi’s 5, Tuglaq Lane – by virtue of being a Rajya Sabha member – because he did not like to waste taxpayers' money.
“I’m not keen on blocking a government bungalow because this would be a waste of taxpayers' money as I reside in Mumbai,” he had said.
Of course, the IANS report also added that of the total Rs 25 crore that Tendulkar is entitled to for the five years, he has, so far, recommended works worth Rs 21.19 crore, while Rs 17.65 crore was made available.