Shimla (Himachal Pradesh): Union Minister for Information and Broadcast; Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur on Friday flayed Congress for not having a full party president and said he hopes that the party chooses their president by 2024.
"I hope Congress party elects its president by 2024," he said when a reporter asked him about the agendas, on which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest the upcoming elections, during a press conference in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla.
Anurag Thakur embarked on his Jan Ashirwad Yatra on Thursday from Chandigarh and held a press conference today in Shimla after flagging off Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 to celebrate the last week of 'Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav'.
The Union Minister also remarked that he has come into politics when politics entered sports. "When politics came in sports then I came in politics. Before that I was not there," he said when asked whether he aspired to become a Union Minster after being in sports for a long time.
Several other Union Ministers who were recently inducted in the Cabinet in July has commenced their Jan Ashirwad Yatra including Union Minister of Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan among others.
Read: Union Cabinet approves edible oil mission with Rs 11k crore outlay
During the press conference, Thakur also said as soon as the Monsoon Session of Parliament was over, all the ministers went to the parliamentary constituencies of their respective states. "I also made a five-day tour to cover four parliamentary constituencies of about 623 km including 37 Assembly constituencies. It will have around 90 events," he added.
Thakur further said no stone would be left unturned to facilitate sports. "I am very clear on some things. The land is needed for establishing a stadium or an academy. We will leave no stone unturned to facilitate sports wherever land is available," said the Union Minister when reporters asked him about setting up a stadium in Shimla.
The Union Minister also stressed the importance of setting up state of the art establishments in Shimla to promote tourism. "To promote tourism and make Shimla a hub of activities, a state of the art establishment should be set up here to attract people. At least 5 lakh people come to see Dharamshala stadium. A single stadium brought such a change and television has a big role to play," he said.
According to him, the Khelo India programme has fared well across the country. "When we started the Khelo India programme, children got a new opportunity. We are trying to organise many tournaments in every part of the country. We have received a good response through Khelo India. Leagues played a vital role for the players," he said.
Read: First batch of Indian athletes arrive in Tokyo for Paralympics
(ANI)
