Former BCCI president Anurag Thakur appointed BJP Chief Whip in Lok Sabha

Anurag Thakur/ File Pic

The BJP on Tuesday appointed its Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur as the new Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, a day ahead of the start of Parliament's monsoon session. Thakur replaces Jabalpur MP Rakesh Singh, who has been appointed the party's Madhya Pradesh unit chief.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed three-time Lok Sabha MP Thakur as the BJP's new Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters here.

Son of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Anurag Thakur has been President of the BJP's youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

The Minister said that Rakesh Singh had earlier urged the party to relieve him of the post as he would be busy with organisational work in Madhya Pradesh where Assembly polls are due this year.

Rakesh Singh was appointed the Chief Whip in 2016 after Arjun Ram Meghawal was made the Minister of State for Finance in a Cabinet reshuffle.

The monsoon session is slated to end on August 10.

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