Dhyan Chand Dhyan Chand

The Manmohan Singh-led UPA government made the last minute, but vital, change to ignore hockey wizard Dhyan Chand for the Bharat Ratna by replacing the hockey great's candidature with that of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who retired from Test cricket last year.

The dishonour meted out to Chand is visible in the mail trail, accessed by Headlines Today, involving the Prime Minister's Office which show how the government snubbed Dhyan Chand to favour Sachin, no doubt two greats.

On July 16 last year, then Sports Minister Jitendra Singh recommended the hockey legend's name for the Bharat Ratna which was acknowledged by former PM Manmohan Singh nine days later. The internal PMO note reveals Dhyan Chand's name was making rounds for the award till early August 2013. This was possible due to an amendment in 2011 to the law which made sportspersons eligible for the country's highest honour.

Sachin Tendulkar receives the Bharat Ratna award from President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi February 4, 2014. Reuters Photo Sachin Tendulkar receives the Bharat Ratna award from President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi February 4, 2014. Reuters Photo

Singh approved eminent scientist CNR Rao for the award on October 24. But all of a sudden on November 14, the PMO asked the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to send the bio-data of Sachin Tendulkar and that too within a day. The ministry submitted it the same day.

The UPA government's desperation can be gauged by the fact that it was able to get the approval for Rao and Tendulkar for the Bharat Ratna on the same day from the Election Commission. Incidentally, it was the last day of Sachin's cricketing career.

Reacting to the controversial switch, Dhyan Chand's son Ashok Kumar, himself an accomplished hockey player, said, "It is a matter of great disappointment for crores of Indians that Dhyan Chand's name was excluded and Sachin Tendulkar's name was brought forward. It was a political game played against Major Dhyan Chand."

Considered the greatest ever hockey player, Dhyan Chand helped India win three Olympic golds in the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics.

Speaking on the issue, Congress MP and BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla sought to distance the two greats. "No comparison should be done between Sachin Tendulkar and Major Dhyan Chand," he said.