Achrekar (87) died of age-related ailments Wednesday. Tendulkar was seen at the funeral bidding a tearful adieu to his guru on Thursday.
A senior Maharashtra minister Thursday said Achrekar not being given a state funeral was due to a "communication gap" at the government level, reported PTI. Maharashtra Housing Minister Prakash Mehta, who represented the state government at the funeral of the celebrated cricket coach, said Achrekar not being given a state funeral was "sad and unfortunate".
Meanwhile, heaping praise on Achrekar for his outstanding contribution in shaping the lives of cricketers like Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Balwinder Singh, Chandrakant Pandit, Pravin Amre, Sanjay Bangar and Ramesh Powar, the Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', said the government not according a state funeral was "troubling" and "harrowing".
"The government forgot to fulfil its responsibility and accord a state funeral to the great Acharya and blamed it on a communication gap. It is as much troubling as it is harrowing," the Sena said.
Sena said the inefficiency of the government was exposed by not giving Achrekar a state funeral but at the same time it doesn’t mean the coach’s contribution to the game has lessened by any chance.
Sena despite being a constituent of the NDA has been escalating its attack on BJP and reportedly has made indications of not renewing its partnership for upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls.