Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday sought to find fault with the Rajya Sabha nomination to Sachin Tendulkar, alleging that the "sinking" Congress might have pressured him to accept the honour to enhance its prestige.
Tendulkar's nomination has provided people with an opportunity to ask the cricketer whether he will remain silent or speak up on issues like corruption and bringing back black money stashed in tax havens, Ramdev told reporters.
"He has every right to take whatever decision he wants to take. He has hit many centuries, he has hit many sixes. But now it gives us an opportunity to knock on his doors, asking him whether he will remain silent or speak up," he said.
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Nomination to 'divert attention from real issues'
He said the Congress has decided to nominate Tendulkar to the Upper House of Parliament to "salvage the sinking ship".
"These nominations (that of Tendulkar and actress Rekha) are to divert attention from real issues. Nobody will oppose honouring Sachin. People of the country have no objection about honouring him with the Bharat Ratna. But the Congress is thinking how to tag Sachin along with them. So there is politics in not giving the Bharat Ratna to him. There is also politics in giving him the Rajya Sabha nomination," Ramdev said.
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'Sachin is a responsible citizen'
Asked whether he thought Tendulkar was pressured by the Board of Cricket Control in India and the Congress into accepting the nomination, Ramdev said he had heard this from many quarters.
"It does not appear it (pressuring Sachin to accept nomination) is baseless. Sachin is a responsible citizen. He knows what is happening. He is not a child. It is for him to decide what to do after he retires from cricket. We have no problem with that. But we expect that he applies his mind on whether his cricket career is important or a political career is important," Ramdev said.
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