Anurag Singh Thakur | |
|---|---|
 Thakur in March 2023 | |
| Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting | |
| In office 7 July 2021 – 10 June 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Prakash Javadekar |
| Succeeded by | Ashwini Vaishnaw |
| Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports | |
| In office 7 July 2021 – 10 June 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Kiren Rijiju |
| Succeeded by | Mansukh Mandaviya |
| Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs | |
| In office 31 May 2019 – 7 July 2021 | |
| Minister | Nirmala Sitharaman |
| Succeeded by | Bhagwat Karad Pankaj Chaudhary |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 25 May 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Prem Kumar Dhumal |
| Constituency | Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh |
| Majority | 1,82,357 (17.42%) |
| 33rdPresident of the Board of Control for Cricket in India | |
| In office 22 May 2016 – 2 January 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Shashank Manohar |
| Succeeded by | C. K. Khanna(interim) |
| President ofBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha | |
| In office 2011–2016 | |
| Preceded by | Amit Thaker |
| Succeeded by | Poonam Mahajan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1974-10-24)24 October 1974 (age 51) Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | |
| Residence | 22, Akbar Road, New Delhi |
| Alma mater | Doaba College (B.A.) |
| Occupation |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  India |
| Branch/service |  Indian Army |
| Years of service | 2016–present |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit |  Territorial Army |
CaptainAnurag Singh Thakur (born 24 October 1974) is an Indian politician from theBharatiya Janata Party and aMember of Parliament in theLok Sabha fromHamirpur,Himachal Pradesh. He was former Minister ofSports, Youth Affairs andMinister of Information and Broadcasting in theSecond Modi ministry. His father,Prem Kumar Dhumal was a formerChief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
Previously, Thakur served as a Minister of State forFinance andCorporate Affairs. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2008 in a by poll as a candidate of theBharatiya Janata Party.[1] Coming from a political family ofHimachal Pradesh, he is a long serving, four timeMember of Parliament, being a member of14th,15th,16th, and17th Lok Sabha.[2]
Previously, he was thepresident of theBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from May 2015 to February 2017, and had to leave that position after theSupreme Court order on BCCI governance.During his time as BCCI president he operated for some time from West Bengal.[3] On 29 July 2016, he became the first serving Member of Parliament from the BJP to become a regular commissioned officer in theTerritorial Army.[4] He was involved in a legal struggle between the Himachal Pradesh State Government and the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association over the rights to the International Cricket Stadium at Dharamshala.[5] There was also controversy over his appointment as the president of theBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and he had to leave that position following a Supreme Court order. In 2024, he was elected as MP fromHamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh for the2024 General Elections.[6][7][8]
Thakur was born on 24 October 1974 inHamirpur, Himachal Pradesh and his family belongs to theHinduRajput community.[9] He is the elder son of Prem Kumar Dhumal and Sheela Devi.[10] His father, Prem Kumar Dhumal was a formerChief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. He has done his bachelorsB.A. degree fromDoaba College,Jalandhar,Punjab.[11] He did his schooling from Dayanand Model Sr. Sec. School, Dayanand Nagar,Jalandhar.
In May 2008, Thakur succeeded his father when he was elected as Member of Parliament of India's 14th Lok Sabha from Hamirpur constituency. He was re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009, 16th Loksabha in 2014, and 17th Loksabha in 2019. Later, in 2010 Thakur was appointed the national president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.[12][13]
On 19 January 2019 he became the firstBharatiya Janata Party MP to be awarded the Sansad Ratna Award, an award established in 2010 for recognizing contributions by parliamentarians.[14]
In May 2019, Thakur became Minister of State forFinance andCorporate Affairs.[15]
On 7 July 2021, Thakur was appointed as theMinister of Youth Affairs and Sports andMinister of Information & Broadcasting[16] in theSecond Modi ministry as part of changes in theUnion Council of Ministers.[1]
In the 2020 Delhi elections, he was accused of being one of the leaders who incited communal tension in Delhi using the inflammatory slogan "traitors of the country", to which his audience replied "shoot the bastards", which were repeated by him in January 2020 at aBJP rally.[17][18] On being questioned about the statements by the media on 1 March 2020, he responded by saying, "You are lying, ... the matter is sub-judice." and “I think sometimes there is lack of information in the media too regarding the way some things are projected.”[19] TheElection Commission of India ordered that Thakur be removed from the BJP's list of star campaigners and then imposed a 72-hour campaigning ban on him.[20] Following Thakur's speech, at least three incidents were reported in whichAnti-CAA protestors were fired upon.[21]
Anurag Thakur played a Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir in November 2000 when he was the president of HPCA.[22] He has played one match in first-class cricket representing Himachal Pradesh and leading the team as captain in a match against Jammu and Kashmir in the 2000/2001 season. Jammu and Kashmir won by 4 wickets.[23] He "picked himself" for the match so as to fulfill the BCCI criterion (which requires state administrators to have at least one first-class match experience) for becoming a selector at the state level.[24] After the match, he appointed himself as the chairman of selectors of HPCA Ranji trophy cricket team.[25]
This debut was his one and only first-class cricket match. This experience in first-class cricket enabled his induction into the BCCI national junior selection committee, satisfying the condition that only first-class players could be national selectors.[26]
Anurag Thakur served as the president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association for four straight terms since 2000. His tenure saw development of five stadium inHimachal Pradesh including the stadium in Dharamsala.[1]
He was the president of the Board of Control for Cricket of India order on 2 January 2017. Early on in his administrative tenure, he gained fame for possibly being the first cricketer to have made his first-class debut after taking over as the president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) in July 2000.
Thakur rose through the ranks in cricketing administration bodies to the position of secretary for BCCI.[27] On 22 May 2016, Anurag Thakur became the president of BCCI, but his tenure was cut short when theSupreme Court of India ruled on the Lodha Committee's third status report, submitted on 14 November 2016, asking for the disqualification of office-bearers of the BCCI and all state associations, who became ineligible as per the Apex Court's 18 July 2016 order.[28]
The court dismissed Thakur on 2 January 2017 for defying its 2016 order to implement theLodha Committee reforms.[29] It also initiated contempt proceedings against Thakur[30] for what itprima facie deemed as perjury about his correspondence with theInternational Cricket Council. He submitted an affidavit of apology to the court which was rejected,[31] following which he filed an unconditional and unequivocal apology.[32] The court finally relented and dropped its contempt and perjury proceedings against him.[33]
Thakur decided at the age of 13 that he will not use his father's surname Dhumal.[34] Thakur married Shefali Thakur, daughter ofGulab Singh Thakur, former Minister in the Government ofHimachal Pradesh, on 27 November 2002.[35][36][37]
In July 2016, Anurag Thakur became a part of the Territorial Army, becoming the first serving BJP Member of Parliament to become a TA Officer. He has been promoted to the rank of captain.[38]
He studied B.A. Educated at Doaba College, Jalandhar, Punjab
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