Anurag Thakur

In December 2019, he was accused of being one of the political leaders who incited communal riots in Delhi using hate speech including "shoot the traitors", which were repeated by him in January 2020 at a BJP rally. On being questioned about the statements by the media on March 1, 2020, he responded by saying, "You are lying, ... the matter is sub-judice."

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. 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.

Thakur continued to rise up the ranks in cricketing administration bodies to the position of Secretary for BCCI. 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. 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 .

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.

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. 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.

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.

Thakur married Shefali Thakur, daughter of Gulab Singh Thakur, former Public Works Department minister in the government of Himachal Pradesh, on 27 November 2002.

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.

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. 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.

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