After the hue and cry over the rail fare increase which the Trinamul
Congress felt was unfair, West Bengal chief minister Miss Mamata
Banerjee, on Tuesday, demanded the rollback of Sachin Tendulkar’s
hundredth international ton that he had scored last week.
The West Bengal CM had asked for the then railway minister Mr Dinesh Trivedi’s sacking after the railway budget was presented on 14 March, 2012. She wrote a letter to the Prime Minister yesterday requesting him to advise the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take steps to ensure that Tendulkar retired immediately. The mercurial leader who has made it a point to make her presence constantly felt in New Delhi wrote in her letter: “There are many poor batsmen with not even 10 international hundreds. It’s grossly irresponsible on Sachin’s part to score 100 centuries. It’s a classic example of rich getting richer. We are for inclusive growth. It’s all the more unacceptable because the latest ton has been scored against Bengalis.”
The Prime Minister was baffled by this letter and top officials in the government were clueless about how to roll back a century that has already been scored. In the light of unconfirmed reports that Tendulkar has already communicated his decision to retire to the BCCI because of Miss Banerjee’s letter, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, wanted the government to clarify whether Tendulkar had already retired and also if the hundredth ton was still valid. In response to this, finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee clarified in Parliament that Miss Banerjee’s request for Tendulkar’s retirement was being considered by the Prime Minister and that Tendulkar’s one hundred tons were now the property of the nation. When asked about the CM’s letter to the PM seeking Tendulkar’s retirement, Miss Banerjee’s trusted confidant Mr Mukul Roy said: “Our leader is always concerned about the poorest of the poor.”
Earlier in the week, Derek O’Brien had tweeted just after Sachin’s 100. The tweet read: “Yet another 100. Definitely not acceptable.” Jest Kidding put a question to Trinamul Congress spokesperson Mr Sudip Bandopadhyay: “The Kakodkar Committee on railway safety has just published its report, with plans that require an outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore. The Sam Pitroda Committee has submitted its plans for the modernisation of Indian Railways at a cost of Rs 5.6 lakh crore. You want your MP salaries to be hiked. You want your real estate property value to appreciate. You want your investments to grow. But even after almost a decade of constant train fares and a long wait of more than a year for Sachin’s hundredth 100, you’ll not tolerate a marginal increase in rail fares or a slight increase in Tendulkar’s tally of 100s. Isn’t this totally unreasonable? Doesn’t this amount to political brinkmanship?”
In a surprisingly candid response, Mr Bandopadhyay said: “What will I do if you ask me such logical questions? I am only doing what my whimsical party leader has asked me to do. If we are asked to oppose, we’ll oppose. If we are asked to support, we’ll support. That’s all. Don’t grill us too much with facts and figures.”
Finally, we spoke to the master blaster. Sachin Tendulkar rubbished reports about his retirement and said he would continue to play as long as he enjoyed the game. “Who do you think I am? Dinesh Trivedi?”
The West Bengal CM had asked for the then railway minister Mr Dinesh Trivedi’s sacking after the railway budget was presented on 14 March, 2012. She wrote a letter to the Prime Minister yesterday requesting him to advise the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take steps to ensure that Tendulkar retired immediately. The mercurial leader who has made it a point to make her presence constantly felt in New Delhi wrote in her letter: “There are many poor batsmen with not even 10 international hundreds. It’s grossly irresponsible on Sachin’s part to score 100 centuries. It’s a classic example of rich getting richer. We are for inclusive growth. It’s all the more unacceptable because the latest ton has been scored against Bengalis.”
The Prime Minister was baffled by this letter and top officials in the government were clueless about how to roll back a century that has already been scored. In the light of unconfirmed reports that Tendulkar has already communicated his decision to retire to the BCCI because of Miss Banerjee’s letter, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, wanted the government to clarify whether Tendulkar had already retired and also if the hundredth ton was still valid. In response to this, finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee clarified in Parliament that Miss Banerjee’s request for Tendulkar’s retirement was being considered by the Prime Minister and that Tendulkar’s one hundred tons were now the property of the nation. When asked about the CM’s letter to the PM seeking Tendulkar’s retirement, Miss Banerjee’s trusted confidant Mr Mukul Roy said: “Our leader is always concerned about the poorest of the poor.”
Earlier in the week, Derek O’Brien had tweeted just after Sachin’s 100. The tweet read: “Yet another 100. Definitely not acceptable.” Jest Kidding put a question to Trinamul Congress spokesperson Mr Sudip Bandopadhyay: “The Kakodkar Committee on railway safety has just published its report, with plans that require an outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore. The Sam Pitroda Committee has submitted its plans for the modernisation of Indian Railways at a cost of Rs 5.6 lakh crore. You want your MP salaries to be hiked. You want your real estate property value to appreciate. You want your investments to grow. But even after almost a decade of constant train fares and a long wait of more than a year for Sachin’s hundredth 100, you’ll not tolerate a marginal increase in rail fares or a slight increase in Tendulkar’s tally of 100s. Isn’t this totally unreasonable? Doesn’t this amount to political brinkmanship?”
In a surprisingly candid response, Mr Bandopadhyay said: “What will I do if you ask me such logical questions? I am only doing what my whimsical party leader has asked me to do. If we are asked to oppose, we’ll oppose. If we are asked to support, we’ll support. That’s all. Don’t grill us too much with facts and figures.”
Finally, we spoke to the master blaster. Sachin Tendulkar rubbished reports about his retirement and said he would continue to play as long as he enjoyed the game. “Who do you think I am? Dinesh Trivedi?”
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