Fans renew Bharat Ratna demand for master blaster

A day after India’s win over Sri Lanka in the World Cup final,fans and politicians renewed the long-standing demand for bestowing the Bharat Ratna,the highest civilian award,on star Mumbai batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Leading the demand is Shiv Sena,which has had a love-hate relationship with Sachin over the past few years.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the party would press for the Bharat Ratna for Sachin. “He is a gem and a great cricketer. We think the government should award him the Bharat Ratna and we will demand it,” he said. Fans who gathered near Tendulkar’s residence in Bandra on Sunday reiterated the demand,which gathered steam last year after he became the first to score a double hundred in one-day cricket.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had announced earlier that Tendulkar is a ‘Bharat Ratna’ as the title had been bestowed upon him by fans. In a Saamna editorial last March,Thackeray said a hundred crore Indians have already crowned Sachin ‘Bharat Ratna’. A couple of years ago,the Sena supremo had taken on the batting maestro over his “Mumbai for all” remark.

Last year,the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had said the state government will recommend to the Centre that Tendulkar be given the country’s highest civilian honour.