It was supposed to be master blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s maiden speech in Rajya Sabha but the incessant sloganeering and uproar by Congress lead to adjournment of the upper house of Parliament for the day – minutes after the former cricketer tried to begin his speech.
Tendulkar began his speech at around 2.10 pm and was expected to speak about the future of sports in India. But, as soon as he stood up, the Congress raised a massive ruckus over PM Narendra Modi’s comments about Pakistan and former PM Manmohan Singh.
As Sachin kept waiting and smiling, the sloganeering against Modi only intensified as the Congress MPs demanded that the prime minister appear in Rajya Sabha and clarify himself thus, not allowing the star batsman to deliver his speech.
The Congress members also raised the issue of acquittal of all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case, saying the court judgement vindicated UPA’s stand that there was no scam in the allocation of spectrum and licences to telecom companies
A frustrated chairman of the house Venkaiah Naidu tried to pacify the agitated members of the house asking them to show respect to the Bharat Ratna awardee (Sachin), but the appeals fell on deaf ears.
Finally, after a few minutes, Naidu adjourned the house for the day as Sachin’s first attempt at initiating a debate in Rajya Sabha where he has been a member for five years and is a year short of completing his term went in vain.
Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan was left agitated by the behavior of her colleagues and slammed those who didn’t let Sachin speak.
“He (Sachin) 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,” she told media outsode parliament. “Are only politicians allowed to speak,” she added.
The Statesman
