Tendulkar will not campaign for Congress in assembly elections: Rajiv Shukla

Zee Media Bureau

Kanpur: BCCI vice-president and Congress MP Rajiv Shukla put all the speculations on rest by stating that Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar won’t campaign for Congress in the upcoming assembly elections. Shukla termed all such reports as "baseless". "Sachin Tendulkar is busy playing cricket at the moment. He is playing in the Ranji Trophy and will later play for India against the West Indies. So the reports of him campaigning for Congress candidates are completely baseless," Shukla told a news agency. Reports on Saturday suggested that Tendulkar, who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member by the ruling UPA government last year, has agreed to campaign for the Congress party in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. "Such stories are misleading and Sachin campaigning for us is untrue. He has to play matches how can he take time out for election campaigning,” Shukla further added. Tendulkar is currently playing for Mumbai Ranji team against Haryana to prepare for his final Test series against the Caribbean side, which is scheduled to take place next month. While answering whether Tendulkar would campaign for Congress in future, the Shukla said: "We can`t predict the future. Sachin is the finest cricketer in the country and after retirement he will pursue whatever he likes. We can`t influence him." With PTI inputs