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New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar has officially become a Member of Parliament after taking oath at a ceremony in Delhi. He had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, in April and has become the first active India sportsperson to become an MP.
"You have now moved from a club of cricketers to an elite club of parliamentarians," ribbed another minister as Tendulkar chatted with his hosts in Vice-President Hamid Ansari's office in Parliament.
Tendulkar was ready to be drawn in to a discussion on how cricket had evolved into various forms, including tournaments featuring teams of batsman-bowler pairs in single wicket formats. He also told ministers Rajiv Shukla, Harish Rawat and Narayanasamy about how cricket was once seen as a Sunday distraction that kept people away from church.
"He was talking of the game's history and said that in 18th century England, cricket was banned on Sundays in rural parts of the country as it was felt that the sport would stop players and onlookers from attending to church," said Narayanasamy who presented Tendulkar with a gold coloured shawl.
The only non-Congress politician in the room was Samajwadi Party leader in Rajya Sabha Ramgopal Yadav, who sought to brush aside his presence, saying, "I only came because the ministers invited me." He sat through the oath taking and later left with Narayanasamy.
Ansari was brisk and business-like, arriving around 11 am and when later asked if Tendulkar's oath-taking felt different, he quickly shot back : "No. All oaths are the same. All members are the same" and left Parliament ahead of his famous guest.
Tendulkar expressed a great deal of interest in parliamentary proceedings when he met Ansari and admitted that he would need a lot of tutoring. But ministers attending to him felt impressed by his easy manner and readiness to walk around Parliament with wife Anjali.
