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Anurag Singh Thakur (born 24 October 1974) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. He is the current Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Second Modi ministry. Previously, Thakur served as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2008 in a by poll as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1] Coming from a political family of Himachal Pradesh, he is a long serving, four time Member of Parliament, being a member of 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th Lok Sabha.[2]

Anurag Thakur
Minister for Information and Broadcasting
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2021
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Prakash Javadekar
Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2021
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Kiren Rijiju
Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs
In office 31 May 2019 – 7 July 2021
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister	Nirmala Sitharaman
Succeeded by	Bhagwat Karad Pankaj Chaudhary
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 May 2008
Preceded by	Prem Kumar Dhumal
Constituency	Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Majority	3,99,572 (40.41%)
33rd President 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
President of Bharatiya 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 48) Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Sheffali Thakur
Residence(s)	Sameerpur, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Alma mater	Doaba College (B.A)
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Army
Rank	Captain
Unit	Territorial Army

Previously, he was the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from May 2015 to February 2017, and had to leave that position after the Supreme Court order on BCCI governance.[3] On July 29, 2016, he became the first serving Member of Parliament from the BJP to become a regular commissioned officer in the Territorial Army[4] and on March 10, 2021 became the first serving Member of Parliament to become Captain in Territorial Army as a regular commissioned officer.[5] He was involved in a legal struggle between the Himachal Pradesh State Government and the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) over the rights to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium at Dharamshala wherein the Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled against the then Himachal Pradesh State Government.[6]

Early life and education

Thakur was born on 24 October 1974 in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh and his family belongs to the Hindu Rajput community.[7] He is the younger son of Prem Kumar Dhumal and Sheela Devi.[8] His father, Prem Kumar Dhumal was former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. He completed his Bachelor's B.A. degree from Doaba College, Jalandhar, Punjab. [9]

Political career

In May 2008, Thakur succeeded his father Prem Kumar Dhumal when he was elected for the first time as Member of Parliament in India's 14th Lok Sabha from Hamirpur constituency. He was re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009, 16th Lok Sabha in 2014, and 17th Lok Sabha in 2019.

On January 19, 2019 he was awarded the Sansad Ratna Award, established in 2010 for recognizing contributions by parliamentarians. He was the first Bharatiya Janata Party MP to have been awarded the Jury Committee Special Award. [10]

As National President of BJYM

In 2010, Thakur was appointed the National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party.[11] [12] He has been the only National President to be appointed for three consecutive terms in the Bharatiya Janata Party and also the first BJYM National President to have worked under three different BJP Presidents: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari.[13]

As Minister of State

In May 2019, Thakur became Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.[14]

As Union Cabinet Minister

On 7 July 2021, Thakur was appointed as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of Information & Broadcasting.[15] in the Second Modi ministry as part of changes in the Union Council of Ministers. [1]

Cricket career

Professional player

Anurag Thakur played a Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir in November 2000 when he was the president of HPCA.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] After the match, he appointed himself as the chairman of selectors of HPCA Ranji trophy cricket team.[19]

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.[20]

Administrative head

In the year 2000, Thakur took over as President of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and served for four straight terms since that year. His tenure saw the development of five stadiums including the international Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium at Dharamsala.[1]

In 2016, he was unanimously elected as President of Board of Control for Cricket in India, becoming the youngest President of BCCI in post-independence India.[21] His candidature was supported by all six East Zone cricket associations: Cricket Association of Bengal, Assam Cricket Association, Jharkhand State Cricket Association, Odisha Cricket Association, Tripura Cricket Association and the National Cricket Club.[22]

Appointment as BCCI president

Thakur rose through the ranks in cricketing administration bodies to the position of secretary for BCCI.[23] On 22 May 2016, Thakur became the president of BCCI, but his tenure was cut short when the Supreme 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.[24]

The court dismissed Thakur on 2 January 2017 for defying its 2016 order to implement the Lodha Committee reforms.[25] It also initiated contempt proceedings against Thakur[26] for what it prima facie deemed as perjury about his correspondence with the International Cricket Council. He submitted an affidavit of apology to the court which was rejected,[27] following which he filed an unconditional and unequivocal apology.[28] The court finally relented and dropped its contempt and perjury proceedings against him.[29]

Personal life

Thakur married Shefali Thakur, daughter of Gulab Singh Thakur, former Minister in the Government of Himachal Pradesh, on 27 November 2002.[30][31][32]

Territorial Army

In July 2016, Anurag Thakur became a part of the Territorial Army (TA), becoming the first serving BJP Member of Parliament to become a TA Officer.[33] On promotion as Captain in the 124 Sikh Regiment, Anurag Thakur became the first serving Member of Parliament to be appointed as Captain in Territorial Army as a regular commissioned officer.[34]

References

External links

• Official website
• Profile on Government of India website
• Anurag Thakur at ESPNcricinfo

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