Anurag Thakur unanimously elected as President of HP Olympic association

Shimla: Former union minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur was on Sunday unanimously elected as the President of the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association.

He was elected during the Annual General Meeting of the association here.

Virender Kanwar, the outgoing president of the association, was unanimously elected as the chief patron. MLA Chopal Balbir Verma was elected as senior vice president, while Rajesh Bhandari was made the general secretary. Amitabh Sharma was appointed as treasurer.

Ishwar Rohal, Usha Barowalia and Narender Atri were elected as vice presidents, and Raj Kumar Nittu, Dr. Rahul Pathania and Ramesh Chauhan were made joint secretaries.

Thakur outlined the top priorities of the association moving forward and said that there was a need to strengthen sports infrastructure across the state, increase the number of qualified coaches to train athletes in all Olympic disciplines, and promote grassroots participation to nurture emerging talent.

He also spoke about building a self-sustaining model for the development and management of Olympic sports in the state.

Highlighting the unique natural potential of the state as a hub for high-altitude and endurance sports, Thakur said that these disciplines should receive special focus within the state's sports development strategy.

He also congratulated all the newly elected office bearers and expressed confidence that the team will work collectively to improve the state's sports ecosystem, ensuring transparent, effective, and visionary administration.