Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana: AAP workers protest against renaming of sports club

MCA Sports Club has been renamed as Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana © Getty Images (File Photo)

Mumbai: Nov 11, 2013

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Scores of activists of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) protested outside the Mumbai Cricket Association‘s (MCA) Kandivli Club which was on Monday renamed to honour cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

The activists, led by AAP Mumbai convenor Pankaj Bhargava, had assembled near the venue in Kandivli where the function was held amid tight security.

“We were wearing black banks and protesting peacefully but police whisked us away,” said AAP Mumbai treasurer Suresh Acharya.

He said a delegation of AAP went to Tendulkar’s Bandra residence Monday morning urging him “not to give his name or associate himself in any manner with a corrupt body like MCA”.

“We also submitted to him a memorandum with over 5,000 signatures of Mumbaikars making a similar appeal to Tendulkar,” Acharya told IANS.

The activists were detained at the Charkop police station even as a glittering function was held at the venue to rename the club after Tendulkar.

Present on the occasion were MCA President Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Tendulkar, Team India and Team West Indies besides present and past cricket dignitaries and celebs.