The move seen that the party may get a strong footing for 2014 elections
Finally, Congress Party decided to nominate its president candidate, though its allies, which include Mamata Banerjee and M Karunanidhi showed displeasure. Party spokesperson announced Sachin Tendulkar's name.
"We thought as it is Sachin is not interested in politics and doesn't want to contribute anything to political front of India, we decided to nominate his name for President of India," said party spokesperson Rajiv Shukla, breaking the ice for the first time since a lot had been said about the issue.
Sources said that Pranab Mukherjee who shied away from the President position has got an immense sigh of relief. Pranabda was the first to congratulate Sachin Tendulkar for his choice.
Manish Tiwary, party spokesperson said "We are glad to announce that we found the best candidate as a President of India and that's Sachin Tendulkar. We have consensus on the name and will proceed to make him India's first sportsman cum president."
Tiwary said that special priviledge would be given to Sachin Tendulkar to tour various nations and score centuries and would not be burdened with a lot of work.
"We want him to complete his 150 centuries each in one day and test matches during his tenure as President," said Manish Tiwary.
However, entire development created a lot of political drama, as allies opposed the appointment of Sachin Tendulkar as President of India. While M Karunanidhi demanded R. Ashwin's name as a president, Mamata Banerjee was stubborn on the name of Sourav Ganguly. However, Congress Party was still comfortable, as it was getting the support of opposition parties.
BJP and Shiv Sena in a joint statement said that they support Congress' step.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said "We are happy that Sachin Tendulkar is chosen as a candidate for presidential election. However, we condemn Congress party's step that focuses on 2014 elections for grabbing the votes."
Sachin Tendulkar who confirmed that he was approached by Congress Party whole-n-sole Sonia Gandhi with the proposal, told that he was ready for the job.
"I am ready to serve the nation, but I don't know what to work and my life is made for Cricket only. Sonia auntyjee assured me that there would not be such issues to continue my career in Cricket for next 10 years at least," said happy Sachin Tendulkar. However, replying to the criticisms for getting out of focus, he said "Nobody should tell me what I should do or not."
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