Lalu slams Bal Thackeray for criticising Tendulkar

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad slammed Siv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray for criticising Sachin Tendulkar for his 'Mumbai for all' remark, saying the Shiv Sena supremo had no moral authority to comment on a national hero.

"Sachin Tendulkar is a national hero. Who is Bal Thackeray to comment on him?" Prasad told media-persons in Patna. Moreover, he said, it did not augur well for a person of Thackeray's age to make such statements.

Communist Party of India-Marxist Politburo member Brinda Karat said, "Sachin as a citizen has the right to make comments on anything and if he believes that Bombay belongs to whole of India, he will find that not only the whole of India but a very large majority of the people in Mumbai believe that Mumbai belongs to the whole of India."

In his Tweet, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said, "My late father Chandran Tharoor had said in 1966 that with Maharashtra for Maharashtrians and Kashmir for Kashmiris, where is India for Indians !"

Board for Control of Cricket in India member Rajeev Shukla said, "This is the same language that Mohammed Ali Jinnah spoke. The whole of India and all Maharashtrians, excluding a few Shiv Sena leaders and leaders of Raj Thackeray's party, are with Tendulkar."

Ashok Chavan, who is heading the Congress-NCP Government in Maharashtra, said, "The master blaster spoke from the bottom of his heart. Sachin's statement has been made in true sportsman spirit. Though he is a Maharashtrian, he plays for the country. This (the remark) will unite the entire country."

Nitish Kumar said, "He has been revered as a cricketer. Now, he will be respected as a good human and a good citizen."