The Congress party might very well soon find itself embroiled in a controversy for making an unsavoury statement about master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, after he tweeted on the ongoing farmers' protest on Wednesday.
In protest to the cricketing legend's tweets about international personalities commenting on the farm laws, a group of Indian Youth Congress workers on Friday (January 5) poured black oil on a cut-out of Sachin Tendulkar in Kochi.
The visuals were shared by news agency ANI on Twitter.
Although Congress has been vocal in its opposition to the farm laws, that the grand old party's youth wing has now defiled the image of a national icon in a prominent city might spell trouble.
Earlier, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had said that Sachin Tendulkar is a 'model' for exceptional contribution in cricket but questioned his 'politics' over the tweet.
In a controversial statement, the RJD had also raised issues with the Bharat Ratna conferred to Sachin.
"This is an insult to the Bharat Ratna that people like Sachin Tendulkar are conferred with such a prestigious award," news agency IANS had quoted RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwari as saying, earlier in the day.
He had also alleged that the Union government "fielded" Sachin Tendulkar to "counter" international personalities who recently commented on the ongoing farmers' protests, and said it was an insult to the nation.
However, the BJP expectedly called out the RJD leader's statement, describing it as "absurd and uncalled for", and claimed that Tiwari should apologise to the people of the country for "abusing" the Bharat Ratna recipient.
Such criticisms could soon be levied against the Congress, given the display by its youth wing in Kochi.
For the uninitiated, Sachin had tweeted, "India's sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda."
(With inputs from agencies)
