Slamming the Maharashtra government for its failure to accord celebrated cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar a state funeral, Shiv Sena has urged Sachin Tendulkar to boycott all state government programs in future.
"Why wasn't Padma Shri and Dronacharya awardee Ramakant Acharekar given a state funeral and respect by the Maharashtra government? The government has shown complete
disregard towards Ramakant Acharekar. Sachin Tendulkar should boycott government programmes henceforth," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut tweeted on Friday.
Achrekar, 87, died of age-related ailments Wednesday. He was cremated in Mumbai on Thursday with his most famous ward Tendulkar in attendance for a tearful adieu.
A senior Maharashtra minister yesterday said Achrekar not being given a state funeral was due to a "communication gap" at the government level.
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However, Housing Minister Prakash Mehta represented the state government at the funeral and he reportedly said Achrekar not being given a state funeral was "sad and unfortunate".
Heaping praise on Achrekar for his outstanding contribution in shaping the lives of cricketers like Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Balwinder Singh, Chandrakant Pandit, Pravin Amre, Sanjay Bangar and Ramesh Powar, the Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', said the government not according a state funeral was "troubling" and "harrowing".
"The government forgot to fulfil its responsibility and accord a state funeral to the great Acharya and blamed it on a communication gap. It is as much troubling as it is harrowing," the Sena said.
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The Sena, however, stressed that not being accorded a state funeral did not lessen Achrekar's contribution to the game in any way but only exposed the inefficiency of the government.
(With PTI inputs)
