Rajya Sabha membership: Why Sachin couldn't leave this ball?

Since nothing much is happening in Indian politics at the moment, a huge controversy over the absence of celebrity MPs like Sachin Tendulkar and

in the Parliament has caught the limelight. It is their sheer bad luck that their pathetic attendance in the Upper House has come to the media's notice but the controversy also raises one pertinent question: Why didn't Sachin Tendulkar turn down the offer to become an

in the very first place? He has been a personality who played cricket at the highest stage for two-and-a-half-decades without courting a single controversy.

Now, his fans feel disheartened to see the great man being dragged into ugly debates everyday. The same hold true about veteran actor Rekha.

Tendulkar and Rekha haven't turned up at the Parliament much

Tendulkar has attended the Parliament just three days out of 27 months while in case of Rekha, the number is seven. The Opposition parties and the media have raised a demand to scrap the duo's memberships. Although technically an MP can lose his membership only if he/she remains absent for 60 consecutive days and the limits have not been crossed in case of either Tendulkar or Rekha, but the two still can not ignore the moral responsibility of overlooking their duties as MPs.

There are other MPs also who do not take much interest but Tendulkar & Rekha are targetted more because they are celebrities

Neither Tendulkar nor Rekha became members of the Parliament by joining a political party and winning an election. They only accepted the offers of a particular party to grace the Upper House of the Parliament. But why didn't they apply their judgment while accepting the offers? Tendulkar is often praised for fully utilising his talent and that he could do by taking the right decisions. He quit as the captain of the Indian cricket team twice, after understanding that it was never his cup of tea, not to take it back ever again.

If they are reluctant to join politics, there was no need to become RS members either

Rekha, too, has turned down film offers a number of times in her acting career. So why they couldn't take the right decision when it came to their Rajya Sabha membership? If they have remained reluctant to join mainstream politics and contest elections, then there is no point in them joining the Rajya Sabha either.

Tendulkar and Rekha have not involved themselves in parl affairs much

However, Tendulkar and Rekha haven't started this trend. Not many eminent citizens, who are nominated as the Rajya Sabha members or even enter the Parliament after winning on a party's ticket, have been seen of taking much interest in the proceedings of the temple of democracy. They remain present in the House as glorified extras but never come to terms with real problems, may be because they themselves are far from them.

The India democracy tried to imbibe the Westminster Model by bringing eminent citizens of the society into the Upper House of the Parliament to add to its value but the reality has not lived up to the expectations. May be this is where a developing society differs from a developed one.