Nomination of Sachin to Rajya Sabha, Congess' dirtiest play: Bal Thackeray

Mumbai, Apr 29 (ANI): Doubting the intentions behind the proposal to nominate Sachin Tendulkar as Rajya Sabha member, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said this was the Congress' 'dirtiest play'.

"One should be free to chose what one wants, for example this is my field etc. There should be no pressure. We have explained everything in 'Samna'. It is the Congress's dirtiest play, the real dirty picture is this," Thackeray told reporters after he was conferred with a lifetime achievement award by Raipur-based magazine Cartoon Watch at a function in Mumbai.

Earlier, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev had also criticised the Congress party for not conferring Sachin with Bharat Ratna and instead nominating him to the Rajya Sabha, saying the ruling Congress Party nominated Sachin to the Rajya Sabha as they wanted to merely use him to defend itself against the opposition attacks over a series of controversies.

Tendulkar was recently nominated for the Rajya Sabha along with veteran actress Rekha and industrialist turned social activist Anu Aga.

Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer and century maker in test and one-day international cricket. He is the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket.

In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked Tendulkar the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. He was also a part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team. (ANI)