New Delhi, October 23 (IANS). The public life of Anurag Singh Thakur, a young, five-time MP, former Union Minister and former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and current BJP MP, has been no less than a roller coaster.
Anurag Singh Thakur was born on 24 October 1974. He entered the field with a strong political foundation. His father, Prem Kumar Dhumal, was the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. This family legacy gave him a decisive launchpad for political succession. In May 2008, he won the Hamirpur Lok Sabha by-election and since then there was no looking back.
Consecutive victories in 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024 also showed that his support base is unaffected by any political fluctuations. Also in the 2024 general elections, in his fifth victory, he won by a margin of over 1.82 lakh votes with 57.97 per cent vote share.
His activism within Parliament brought him to the attention of the central leadership. He was appointed Chief Whip during the 16th Lok Sabha and became the youngest person to hold the post.
Along with political stability, Anurag made himself an indispensable organizational face within the BJP. From 2011 to 2016, he served as the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP.
During this period, he led major initiatives such as the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Yatra’ (Kolkata to Kashmir), which united the cadre at the grassroots level. But his biggest quality was that he worked under three different BJP presidents (Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah).
The most dramatic and high-stakes phase of Anurag Thakur’s multifaceted career was in sports administration. In the year 2000, he took over as the President of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), following which he is credited with the development of five stadiums, including the picturesque International Stadium in Dharamshala. During this time, he also played one match for Himachal Pradesh in Ranji Trophy.
In May 2016, he was unopposed as the BCCI President, the highest post of Indian sports administration. However, his nine-month tenure was surrounded by controversies over the implementation of the recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RM Lodha Committee.
In 2019, Anurag Thakur was inducted into the Union Cabinet. He previously served as the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, where he gained valuable executive experience managing the economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and corporate affairs under Nirmala Sitharaman.
In July 2021, he was given the dual responsibility of Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports. At YAS, he focused on grassroots sports like ‘Khelo India’ and ensured a significant increase of 70 per cent in the budgetary allocation for the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
As I&B Minister, he stressed on the implementation of the Digital Media Code of Conduct and promoted the AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics) sector with the aim of making India a post-production hub for the media and entertainment industry.
Additionally, receiving commission as a regular officer (Lieutenant) in the Territorial Army in 2016 and being promoted to the rank of Captain in 2021, adds another strong layer of discipline and patriotism to his public life, which is in perfect sync with the BJP’s ethos of nationalism.
Despite a fifth consecutive victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, his exclusion from the third Modi cabinet (June 2024) has become a political conundrum.
Talking about the achievements of Anurag Thakur, he received the Best Young Parliamentarian Award in the year 2011. Received the title of Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2014. Anurag Thakur’s name is present in the Financial Times’ list of ’25 Indians to keep an eye on’.
India Today magazine included him as one of ‘Narendra Modi’s Navratnas’. For his distinguished performance as a Parliamentarian, he was awarded the Sansad Ratna Award in 2019. In 2019, Anurag was honored with the Champions of Change Award for his exemplary contribution to social welfare.
–IANS
VKU/DKP
