Dhoni in Himachal Pradesh: Treatment as ‘State Guest’ invites furore from the opposition

MS Dhoni in Himachal Pradesh: Congress party unhappy with the treatment given to the cricketer.

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.”

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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