Anurag Thakur on Wednesday was appointed as the new Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs in a major cabinet reshuffle. Thakur has replaced Kiren Rijiju, who was elevated to the position of Cabinet Minister as the Minister of Law and Justice.
So, here are 10 things you must know about the newly appointed Sports and Youth Affairs Minister:-
📌Anurag Thakur is a member of the Lok Sabha from the Hamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh.
📌Thakur is only 46 years old. He is one of the youngest Parliamentarians in India today and has received the Best Young Parliamentarian Award in 2011.
📌Apart from looking into the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. Thakur is also given charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after he took oath as a cabinet minister.
📌 Apart from taking care of athletes’ preparation on a ministerial level, Thakur will also have to ensure that they conform to the strict stipulations regarding vaccination and repeated tests put in place by Japan.
📌 Anurag Thakur was previously serving as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs between May 2019 and July 2021 under Nirmala Sitharaman.
📌 Anurag Thakur was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) between May 2016 and February 2017. And he was terminated from his position after the Supreme Court ordered him to desist works within BCCI. Before that, he has also served as the Secretary of the Board and also headed the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA).
📌Thakur’s cricketing journey started at the age of 14 as a player. He had led the Punjab U-16 team that won the Vijay Merchant Trophy and also played a Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir in November 2000 when he was the president of HPCA.
📌 Anurag developed five stadiums in Himachal Pradesh while his tenure as a President of HPCA, including the picturesque in Dharamsala stadium, and two cricket academies – one in Shimla and the other in Dharamsala.
📌During the BJPs Citizenship Act rally in January 2020, Thakur was seen leading a crowd with the slogan “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko,” a chant inciting listeners to shoot “traitors to the country”, with an expletive thrown in. Also in 2012, the Congress government of Himachal Pradesh had alleged wrongdoing in the allotment of land some 250 km from the state capital.
📌Thakur began his political career in 2008 as he succeeded his father, Prem Kumar Dhumal, as a Member of Parliament in the 14th Lok Sabha from Hamirpur constituency.