Uttarakhand Congress to felicitae Dhoni

Dehradun, Nov 24 (UNI) After ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government declared that it had no intention to felicitate Indian one day Cricket Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee has announced to honour him instead.

Uttarakhand Congress state chief Yashpal Arya today told newspersons it was unfortunate that Dhoni despite being aboriginc of Uttarakhand was not felicitated by the BJP government. ''We will take up the task of felicitating him,'' Arya announced.

It may be recalled that answering to the question of Congress member and former Sports Minister Pritam Singh during winter Session of State Assembly, Sports Minister Rajendra Singh Bhandari had said that as Dhoni was not the permanent resident of Uttarakhand, therefore, the government has no intention to felicitate him. He has stated that he would be honoured when he comes to the state.

However, the Congress said that Dhoni was domicile of the state as his father belonged to Lavali village in Almora District and had shifted to Ranchi only in 1972. Dhoni's uncle still resides in Lavali village. It was in 2003 that Dhoni had last visited his ancestral house.

UNI