The BJP government in Himachal Pradesh has decided to bear all the expenses of Dhoni and his wife Sakshi, who are on a five-day visit to Shimla for an advertisement shoot.
The Jai Ram Thakur-led government came under sharp criticism for its decision to use the tax-payers' money to fund Dhoni’s visit.
“I respect Dhoni both as a cricketer and person but his personal trip should not have been funded by the government. If the same honour was being given to other Indian athletes then you can argue in favour of it but I believe that is not the case. Just because Dhoni is a cricketer and a former captain, he shouldn’t be getting the leverage to use the tax-payers’ money,” Himachal’s Congress president Sukhvinder Singh told ABP News.
The state government, however, stood firm on its stance. “Dhoni is a World Cup-winning captain and he is always welcome in Himachal. I see no harm in the state government honouring a champion sportsperson like him,” said cabinet minister Vipin Parmar.
The minister also stated that his government would not back away in conferring other India sportspersons with the 'state guest' honours.
“There is no question of favouring Dhoni because he is a cricketer. We would be more than happy to confer the same honours to other Indian athletes when they visit our state,” Parmar added.
Dhoni, not a part of the Indian Test side, is expected to be back in action when the Indian ODI side travels to UAE for the Asia Cup, starting on September 15.