MS Dhoni in Himachal Pradesh: Congress party unhappy with the treatment given to the cricketer.
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former Indian captain and current wicket-keeper batsman in the limited-overs format, has unknowingly invited another controversy in relation to him. The cricketer is currently in Shimla on a three-day trip for an advertisement shoot.
Citing his status in mind, the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party government has provided a ‘State Guest’ treatment to him, something which has made the opposition (Congress) unhappy for they are stating that the same has been done to meet the demands of a rich cricketer. Jai Ram Thakur, current Chief Minister of the state, has been criticized heavily by the opposition regarding the same.
Sukhvinder Singh, Congress MLA from the Naduan constituency in the state, expressed disagreement at this decision. He was quoted, “He (Dhoni) comes for the shooting of a private commercial advertisement and the state government offers him the status of a ‘State Guest’, this is not justifiable from at all.
“Had they (state government) planned to provide such security to international cricketers, it should have been mentioned in any rule or law. The government is only taking care of the rich cricketers. It should also take care of other not-so-famous sports personalities.”
Chief Minister Thakur replied on a matter saying that the move just to provide security to an international cricketer, something which a personality of Dhoni’s stature deserves. “It is unfortunate that a controversy in being made out of this news. For courtesy sake, we have provided him the status of a ‘State Guest’ and it only includes security arrangements. Security is a necessity for him because people generally tend to approach (for an autograph or selfie) such a personality”, he said.
Govind Thakur, Sports Minister of Himachal Pradesh, said that Dhoni deserves all the arrangements that have been made for him. “Congress watches every topic from a negative perspective. If MS Dhoni is a celebrity and is in the state and has been declared as a ‘State Guest’, I don’t find anything wrong in it. He deserves the security guards and pilot facilities which he has got.”
