Has the government violated the model code of conduct (MCC) in honouring Sachin Tendulkar with the Bharat Ratna right when the assembly election process is on in five states? That is the question an RTI activist has raised before the election commission (EC).
 
“The government of India has announced Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar in haste to gain the goodwill of voters and to influence the voters in the elections to vote for the ruling Indian National Congress party,” Noida-based Dev Ashish Bhattacharya has written in his letter to the EC.
 
“Despite being mindful of the limitations to follow [sic] the model code of conduct, the central government has acted in haste with the sole objective to influence the voters,” he writes.
 
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The honour for the cricketer came hours after he retired from the game on November 16. Scientist CNR Rao too was named for the highest civilian honour of the country.
 
However, given the fact that the MCC was in place, the argument goes, the government could have waited 20-odd days – the election process ends on December 8 with the announcement of the results of all polls – to honor Tendulkar as well as Rao. Alternatively, the honour could have bestowed on the cricketer right after he announced his plan to retire after the second Test against West Indies on his home ground in Mumbai. That was on October 10, and the code of conduct was not in place then.
 
What is more surprising is that this hasty decision comes after a considered view that Tendulkar as a sportsperson did not fit the bill. Only in September, the home ministry had rejected youth affairs and sports minister Ajay Maken’s proposal to honour Tendulkar with the Bharat Ratna.
 
Maken wrote to the home ministry in September 2011 requesting inclusion of sports as “an area of recognition for the conferment of the Bharat Ratna”. However, the ministry rejected the suggestion, and said, “Inclusion of sports as a field for Bharat Ratna may raise the issue to include other fields such as trade and industry and social work in the award category of Bharat Ratna.”
 
According to a report in the Hindu, the ministry noted that while Tendulkar “deserves the highest honour […], there are several other sportspersons who have made our country feel proud, such as Dhyan Chand in hockey, Jaspal Rana in shooting, Vishwanathan Anand in chess, PT Usha in athletics.”