Anurag Thakur

Anurag Singh Thakur (born 24 October 1974) is a member of the Lower House of Parliament in India (Lok Sabha) from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, and also serves as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs. He is the son of Prem Kumar Dhumal, the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2008 in a by poll as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1] He is a four time MP, being a member of 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th Lok Sabha. He was awarded the Sansad Ratna Award in 2019, an award established in 2010 by private organisations for recognizing contributions by parliamentarians.

Anurag Thakur
Minister of State for Finance
Assumed office
30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
MinisterNirmala Sitharaman
Preceded byPon Radhakrishnan
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs
Assumed office
30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
MinisterNirmala Sitharaman
Preceded byPP Choudhary
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
25 May 2008
Preceded byPrem Kumar Dhumal
ConstituencyHamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Majority3,99,572 (40.41%)
33rd President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
In office
22 May 2016 – 2 January 2017
Preceded byShashank Manohar
Succeeded byC. K. Khanna
Personal details
Born (1974-10-24) 24 October 1974
Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)Didi Thakur
ResidenceSameerpur, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Alma materDoaba College (B.A)
Military service
Allegiance India
Branch/service Indian Army
Rank Lieutenant
UnitTerritorial Army

He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from May 2015 to February 2017. He was sacked from his position of BCCI president after the Supreme Court ordered him to cease and desist works within BCCI.[2] On 29 July 2016, he became the first serving Member of Parliament from the BJP to become a regular commissioned officer in the Territorial Army.[3]

Early life and education

Thakur was born on 24 October 1974 at Hamirpur. He is the eldest son of Prem Kumar Dhumal and Sheela Devi.[4]. He studied B.A. Educated at Doaba College, Jalandhar, Punjab[5]

Political career

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, Thakur was appointed the president of the All India Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.[6][7] He was honored with the Sansad Ratna Award in 2019 for outstanding performance in the 16th Lok Sabha. In May 2019, Thakur became Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.[8]

Cricket career

Cricket Player

Anurag Thakur played a Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir in November 2000 when he was the president of HPCA. 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. 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. After the match, he appointed himself as the chairman of selectors of HPCA Ranji trophy cricket team. [9]

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[10].

Cricket Administrator

He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) until Supreme Court of India sacked Anurag Thakur as president on 02/01/2017. 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, at which time his father was the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. 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.[11]

Thakur continued to rise up the ranks in cricketing administration bodies to the position of Secretary for BCCI.[12] On 22 May 2016, Thakur became the president of BCCI, and in January 2017, he was removed from the post by the Supreme Court from the post of BCCI president for not complying with its orders and making false statements under oath before the Supreme Court[13]. The Supreme Court gave its ruling 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 [14].

Territorial Army
The Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh conferring the rank of Lieutenant in the Territorial Army on Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of Parliament and President BCCI, at a solemn ‘Commissioning’ ceremony, in New Delhi on July 29, 2016.

In July 2016, Anurag Thakur became a part of the territorial army, becoming the first serving BJP Member of Parliament to become a regular commissioned Officer in the Territorial Army.[15]

Personal life

Thakur married Shefali Thakur, daughter of Gulab Singh Thakur, former Public Works Department minister in the government of Himachal Pradesh, on 27 November 2002.[16][17][18][19]

gollark: LyricLy make macarons and macrons simultaneously.
gollark: It's probably stupid and should be ignored.
gollark: I believe* you.
gollark: MAKE THE MACRO(N), lyricloform¡¡¡¡¡¡
gollark: PRODUCE MACRON.

References
  1. Kesavan, N. (2 January 2017). "The rise and fall of Anurag Thakur". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  2. "Anurag Thakur, former BCCI president, apologises to Supreme Court". hindustantimes.com. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  3. "Anurag Thakur becomes first serving BJP MP to join Territorial Army". The Indian Express. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  4. Nora Chopra (20 November 2011). "Anurag or Varun for UP? BJP cannot make up its mind". The Sunday Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  5. "Anurag Singh Thakur". Government of India. He studied B.A. Educated at Doaba College, Jalandhar, Punjab
  6. ECI Winners List Himachal Pradesh Archived 27 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Lok Sabha Members Himachal Pradesh". Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  8. "PM Modi allocates portfolios. Full list of new ministers", Live Mint, 31 May 2019
  9. "Anurag Thakur - Anurag Thakur Official Website-Home".
  10. "High Court restores Dharamshala cricket stadium to Anurag's HPCA". The Indian Express. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  11. "Who is Anurag Thakur?". Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  12. "Joint Secretary of BCCI". Archived from the original on 22 December 2011.
  13. Rautray, Samanwaya (3 January 2017). "Supreme Court sacks Anurag Thakur, Ajay Shirke from BCCI". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  14. Rautray, Samanwaya (3 January 2017). "Anurag Thakur - Anurag Thakur Sacked from BCCI". The Economic Times.
  15. "Anurag Thakur - Anurag Thakur Joins Territorial Army".
  16. Deepika (7 November 2017). "BJP candidate from Joginder Nagar assembly seat in Himachal: Gulab Singh Thakur". www.oneindia.com.
  17. "Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections 2017: Seven-time MLA ready for 'final' poll innings from Joginder Nagar". 4 November 2017.
  18. "Himachal Pradesh Polls: Joginder Nagar set for triangular contest". 31 October 2017.
  19. "पत्नी के साथ पिता के लिए वोट करने पहुंचे अनुराग ठाकुर, स्नड्डद्वद्बद्य4 क्कद्धशह्लशह्य". Dainik Bhaskar. 9 November 2017.
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