Shimla: Former Union minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur on Wednesday urged Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to withdraw the state govt’s tender for reintroducing online and offline lotteries.In a letter dated Aug 26, Thakur said reviving lotteries would undermine the political consensus that kept these banned in Himachal for more than two decades. He recalled that lotteries were banned in 1999 and again in 2007 amid concerns over their impact on families, workers, pensioners and youth.Thakur particularly opposed the proposed online system, saying multiple daily draws could reach people directly through smartphones.Amid the state’s rising debt, he said lotteries would offer limited financial relief while creating social costs. He suggested improving GST compliance and digital integration to raise revenue instead, and urged Sukhu to annul the tender and pursue other fiscal measures.
