Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

Last updated

Gayatri Rathore
(m. 1997)
[1]
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
The Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (IC) and Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore addressing after felicitating the winners of the World Youth Boxing Championship 2017, at a function (cropped).jpg
Cabinet Minister
Government of Rajasthan
Assumed office
30 December 2023
Children2
Alma mater
Military service
AllegianceFlag of India.svg  India
Branch/serviceFlag of Indian Army.svg  Indian Army
Years of service1990 – 2013
Rank Colonel of the Indian Army.svg Colonel
Unit 9th Grenadiers
Battles/wars Kargil War, CI/CT operations in J&K [2]
Awards
Sports career
Sport Shooting
Event Double trap
Medal record
Men's shooting [3]
Representing Flag of India.svg  India
Event1st2nd3rd
Olympic Games 1
Commonwealth Games 31
Asian Games -11
World Shotgun Championship--1
ISSF World Shooting Championship 112
Asian Clay Target Championship5--
Total944
Olympic Games
Olympic rings.svg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens Double trap
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Manchester Double trap individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2002 Manchester Double trap pairs
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2006 Melbourne Double trap individual
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2006 Melbourne Double trap pairs
Asian Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Doha Double trap teams
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Doha Double trap
World Shotgun Championship
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2003 CyprusDouble trap individual
ISSF World Shooting Championship
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2006 GranadaDouble trap individual
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg2004 SydneyDouble trap individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2006 CairoDouble trap individual
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2003 New DelhiDouble trap individual
Asian Clay Target Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2003 New DelhiDouble trap individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2004 BangkokDouble trap individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2005 BangkokDouble trap individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2006 SingaporeDouble trap individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2011 Kuala LumpurDouble trap individual

Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, AVSM , (born 29 January 1970) is an Indian politician, Olympic medallist in shooting and retired colonel in the Indian Army. He is serving as a cabinet minister at the Industry & Commerce, Youth Affairs & Sports Department in the Government of Rajasthan since December 2023. Rathore was a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Jaipur Rural seat since 2014 till 2023.

Contents

He won 25 international medals at various championships for Double Trap Shooting including a silver medal at 2004 Summer Olympics in Men's Double Trap event. [4]

Rathore served as a commissioned officer in The Grenadiers regiment of the Indian Army before retiring in 2013 as a colonel. Following his retirement from the army and shooting, he became the member of the parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014.

In November 2014, was made the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. [5] Rathore served as a Cabinet minister with independent charge for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports from 2017 [6] until 2019. [7]

Personal life

Rajyavardhan was born in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan to Colonel Lakshman Singh Rathore (Retd.), an Army Colonel of Garabdesar, Lunkaransar, Bikaner,[ citation needed ] and Manju Raghav Bhondsi, a teacher, [8] [9] on 29 January 1970. [10] [11] [12]

His educational qualifications include B.A., Instructor-Weapons (MMG, AGL, Small Arms), Grading Tactics (YO) Course. He was educated at the National Defence Academy, Pune and Infantry School, Mhow. [10]

He married Maj. Gayatri Rathore (nee Kapkoti), hailing from Kapkot-Almora in Uttarakhand, on 16 February 1997. She served as a doctor by profession in the Indian Army. They have a son and a daughter. [10] [11] [13]

Military career

Rathore is a graduate of the 77th Course of the National Defence Academy. [14] After graduating from the NDA, Rathore attended the Indian Military Academy where he was awarded the Sword of Honor for the best all-round Gentleman Cadet. He was also the recipient of the Sikh Regiment Gold Medal, awarded to the best sportsman of the course. [11]

He was later commissioned in the 9th Grenadiers (Mewar) Regiment on 15 December 1990. He was promoted to lieutenant on 15 December 1992 and to captain on 15 December 1995. [15] [16] Rathore fought in the Kargil War, [2] and was promoted to major on 15 December 2000. [17] As part of his career in the Indian Army, he served in Jammu and Kashmir, where he participated in counter-terrorist operations. His regiment was awarded the Army Chief's Citation and the Governor of J&K's Citation for exemplary work. [11] He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 16 December 2004, [18] and to his final rank of colonel on 1 May 2009. [19]

Sports career

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Rathore won a gold medal and set a new Commonwealth Games Record of 192 targets out of 200, which still stands. He also won the Team Gold Medal along with Moraad Ali Khan. Rathore, went on to successfully defend his Commonwealth Champion title by winning the gold medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. He also won the silver in the Team event with Vikram Bhatnagar. He won gold medals in two World Shooting Championships, at Sydney in 2004 and Cairo in 2006.

Rathore rose to prominence when he won the silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was India's first ever individual silver at the Olympics. [20] [11]

In 2006, Rathore won a bronze medal in the World Championship in Spain, an event held for the top 12 shooters of the world. He was ranked third in the world for the most of 2003 and 2004 and briefly climbed to the first in early 2004 and second after the Athens Olympics. He won a silver at the World Championship in 2003 in Sydney for India after a gap of nearly 40 years. [11] India had not seen a victory since Karni Singh of Bikaner, who won a silver at the 1962 World shooting Championship in Cairo. Rathore is credited with winning the Asian Clay Target gold medal four times in a row from 2003 to 2006. He also holds an Individual bronze medal which was at the Asian Games 2006 in Doha.

Between 2002 and 2006 he won 25 international medals at various championships for Double Trap.

In 2011, Rathore participated in the Asian Clay Target Championship in Kuala Lumpur and won gold. His score of 194 in that tournament equals world record. [3]

Political career

On 10 September 2013, Rathore joined Bharatiya Janata Party after taking retirement from the Indian Army. [21] He was elected as an MP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Jaipur Rural constituency. [22] On 9 November 2014, he was sworn-in as the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, under the Narendra Modi government. [23] He was appointed the Minister of Sports on 3 September 2017. In May 2018, he became Minister of State (I/C) for Information & Broadcasting. [11] In the 2019 Indian general election, he retained the Jaipur Rural seat by over 3.93 lakh votes and was elected to the Lok Sabha for the second time. [24]

In November 2023, Rathore contested from Jhotwara Assembly constituency for the 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election. [25] He defeated Abhishek Chaudhary of the INC by 50,167 votes. After winning the elections, [26] Rathore resigned from Lok Sabha. [27] On 30 December 2023, he took oath as a cabinet minister in the Government of Rajasthan. [28]

Awards and recognitions

Military awards

Padma Shri Ribbon.svg Ati Vishisht Seva Medal ribbon.svg
IND Special Service Medal Ribbon.svg IND Operation Vijay star.svg IND Operation Vijay medal.svg
IND Sainya Seva Medal Ribbon.svg IND 50th Anniversary Independence medal.svg IND 20YearsServiceMedalRibbon.svg IND 9YearsServiceMedalRibbon.svg
Padma Shri Ati Vishist Seva Medal
Special Service Medal Operation Vijay Star Operation Vijay Medal
Sainya Seva Medal 50th Anniversary of Independence Medal 20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vijay Kumar (sport shooter)</span> Indian sport shooter

Honorary Captain Vijay Kumar Sharma, AVSM, SM is an Indian sport shooter. He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Kumar hails from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is a retired Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment Indian Army, who was later promoted to Honorary Captain Rank. Vijay Kumar is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest initiative. He is the only Indian to have won a medal at 25m rapid Fire Pistol. He has been posted at Indian Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003 where he is being coached by the Russian Pavel Smirnov.

Vikram Bhatnagar is an Indian sport shooter. He won the silver medal in the Men's Double Trap (Pairs) with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In this process he was able to score a good score and carried the team to the silver medal. He is an MBA Graduate and has interests in Hotels and Construction as well. His daughter is Sabhyata Bhatnagar and son Vardaan Bhatnagar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subhash Maharia</span> Indian politician

Subhash Maharia was a union minister of state for rural development and Food & Public Distribution in Government of India. He was minister from 1999 to 2004. He is a leader of Bharatiya Janta Party and was a member of 12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabha from Sikar in Rajasthan. He joined Indian National Congress in November 2016 and left Indian National Congress in May 2023 to rejoin Bhartiya Janata Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manvendra Singh</span> Indian politician

Colonel Manvendra Singh Jasol is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India from 2004-2009 representing the Barmer-Jaisalmer constituency of Rajasthan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sachin Pilot</span> Indian politician

Captain Sachin Pilot is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress, he has been serving as Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Tonk since 2018. He has previously served as Minister of State of Corporate Affairs and Communication and IT in the Government of India under Manmohan Singh. Additionally he served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 2018 to 2018 under Ashok Gehlot. Pilot became the youngest citizen of India to become Member of Parliamentat the age of 26.

Lt. Col. Maharaja Manabendra Shah was a member of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Tehri Garhwal constituency of Uttarakhand and was a member of the Indian National Congress before joining the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and later the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political party. He became one of the BJP's longest-serving members. Shah was ambassador to Ireland from 1980 to 1983.

Mohar Singh Rathore was a social reformer and politician from Indian National Congress. He was elected as a member of Lok Sabha from Churu constituency in 1984. He was also elected as member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly for two terms from Churu assembly in 1962 and 1972. In year 1985 he died as sitting Member of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krishna Poonia</span> Indian politician & former athlete

Krishna Poonia is an international gold-medalist Indian discus thrower, track-and-field athlete, 2 times Olympics participant, Padma Shri and Arjuna Award recipient, politician from the Congress party and the formar MLA from Sadulpur constituency in Rajasthan. She participated in 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, she won a gold medal. She was appointed the President Of the Rajasthan State Sports Council in February 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digvijay Singh (Bihar politician)</span> Indian politician (1955–2010)

Digvijay Singh was an Indian politician from the state of Bihar, and an associate of George Fernandes of Janata Dal and later Samata Party, now led by Uday Mandal its President. He represented Banka in the Lok Sabha a few times. He was elected to Rajya Sabha twice. He died on 24 June 2010 in London after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

Colonel is a rank in the Indian Army. Like other armies, this rank is higher than lieutenant colonel a It is equivalent to captain in the Indian Navy and group captain in the Indian Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhanwar Jitendra Singh</span> Indian politician (born 1971)

Bhanwar Jitendra Singh is the former Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports and the Minister of State for Defence, Government of India. He assumed this charge on 28 October 2012. Formerly, Jitendra Singh was the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of India; a position that he assumed in July 2011. He was the Member of Parliament representing the Alwar constituency of Rajasthan. Jitendra Singh is a member of the Indian National Congress. He is the present titular Maharaja of Alwar and hence the cultural head of Naruka clan of Rajputs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. P. Joshi</span> Indian politician

C. P. Joshi is an Indian politician and a five-time MLA from Nathdwara, Rajasthan. He was born in a Brahmin family in Nathdwara, Rajasthan and he is a member of the Indian National Congress. He is the current Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. Previously, he was the Member of Parliament of India from Bhilwara in the 15th Lok Sabha. He was one of the first 19 members of India's new cabinet sworn in on 22 May 2009, despite being a first-time member of the Lok Sabha. As a union minister, Joshi held key portfolios like Road Transport and Highways, and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in the Second Manmohan Singh ministry. Moreover, he was also a Cabinet Minister of the Government of Rajasthan from 1998 to 2003.

Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 25 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Rajasthan state in western India. This constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of the implementation of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.This seat is dominated by yadav community after them jat community also has significant presence. Yadav or Ahir community has one of the highest population in Kotputli, Shahpura, Bansur, Jhotwara, Viratnagar, Amber, Phulera and significant presence in Jamwa Ramgarh with more than 3 lakh population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diya Kumari</span> 6th Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan

Diya Kumari is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party currently serving as the 6th Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan alongside Prem Chand Bairwa in the ministry of Bhajan Lal Sharma. She currently represents Vidhyadhar Nagar as an MLA in the 16th Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. She is a member of the erstwhile royal family of the Jaipur State.

Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo AVSM, the scion of Dhenkanal is a former Member of Parliament and a retired Indian Territorial Army officer. He was a member of the 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 13th Lok Sabha. He was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1967 representing Swatantra Party.

Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria is an Indian politician and owner of a Gurugram-based real estate group. He is currently a member of parliament after winning the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha election from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He defeated former member of parliament and former Indian cricket team captain Mohammad Azharuddin by a margin of 1,48,000 votes. In the recent 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he won by defeating ex-cabinet minister Namo Narayan Meena by 1,1100 votes. He was a former independent member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly in the Sohna Vidhan Sabha Constituency from 2004 to 2009. He won the Sohna seat independently by defeating political stars of the Congress Party and others.

Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, SM & two bars was an Indian Army officer. He was the commanding officer of the 21st battalion, Rashtriya Rifles. On 2 May 2020, he was killed in action in an encounter in Handwara in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. He was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry three times, the first bar to the Sena Medal being awarded a few months before his death and the second bar posthumously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jhotwara Assembly constituency</span> Legislative Assembly constituency in Rajasthan State, India

Jhotwara is one of the 200 Legislative Assembly constituencies of Rajasthan state in India. Yadav, Rajput and Jat and community has one of the highest population in Jhotwara. Yadav community has population in more than 39 villages and also signifcant population in urban area.

The Ahir Regiment, and Ahirwal rifles, are proposed infantry regiment of the Indian Army that has been requested by the Yadav community.

References

  1. "A Sure Shot". The Tribune. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Work smart rather than just hard". Rediff India Abroad. 10 June 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 "ISSF - International Shooting Sport Federation - issf-sports.org". www.issf-sports.org. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  4. "Rathore Medals".
  5. Vincent, Pheroze (10 November 2014). "Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore: Olympian finds a place". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. Ravinder, Singh (3 September 2017). "Sports Minister". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  7. "Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Biography – About family, political life, awards won, history". Elections in India.
  8. "गुरु द्रोण की धरती पर यह गांव है वीर जवानों का.. -". Jagran (in Hindi). 13 August 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  9. "अब राज्यवर्धन सिंह पर टिकी हैं निगाहें". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). 12 August 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 "Members : Lok Sabha". 164.100.47.194. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Olympic silver medallist appointed sports minister". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  12. Singh, Harsha Kumari; Paul, Rohit (24 November 2023). "Olympic Medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore Now Takes Aim At Rajasthan Assembly". NDTV. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  13. "सुसराल में आवभगत से गदगद दिखे केंद्रीय मंत्री -". Jagran (in Hindi). 21 January 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  14. ":: Welcome to National Defence Academy ::". Archived from the original on 9 September 2015.
  15. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 9 October 1993. p. 1871.
  16. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 23 March 1996. p. 390.
  17. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 15 December 2001. p. 1464.
  18. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 3 December 2005. p. 2419.
  19. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 27 November 2010. p. 2207.
  20. "Shooter Rathore strikes silver". rediff.com. 17 August 2004.
  21. "Olympic medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore joins BJP". The Times of India . 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013.
  22. "Narendra Modi to also contest from Vadodara in Lok Sabha Election". news.biharprabha.com. Indo-Asian News Service. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  23. "'Come, Have Breakfast With Me and Take Oath, PM Modi Said': Rajyavardhan Rathore to NDTV". NDTV . 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  24. "Lok Sabha 2019 election results: BJP's Rajyavardhan Rathore wins from Jaipur Rural with 64% votes". CNBCTV18. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  25. Shekhawat, Bal Virendra Singh; Mishra, Nishant (4 November 2023). "Rajasthan Election 2023: तमाम विरोधों के बीच राज्यवर्धन राठौड़ का नामांकन आज, झोटवाड़ा सीट से बनाए गए हैं भाजपा के प्रत्याशी". NDTV (in Hindi). Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  26. "Rajasthan polls: BJP's Rajyavardhan Rathore wins from Jhotwara with margin of 50,000 votes". The Economic Times. PTI. 3 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  27. Saha, Poulomi; Mishra, Himanshu (6 December 2023). "10 of 12 BJP MPs who won state elections resign from Lok Sabha". India Today. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  28. "Rajasthan Cabinet Expansion: Rajyavardhan among 22 new ministers | Full list". Mint. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  29. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  30. "ŠRathore to be India's flag bearer in Beijing". ndtv.com. 4 August 2008.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Jaipur Rural

2014 – present
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Information and Broadcasting
14 May 2018 – 31 May 2019
Minister of State with Independent Charge
Succeeded by
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for India
Beijing 2008
Succeeded by