About Col Rajyavardhan Rathore

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore is a two-time Member of Parliament from Jaipur Rural. He served in the Indian Army for 23 years, including in Jammu and Kashmir, where he participated in counter-terrorism operations. In fact, he is the 4th generation officer from his family in the same battalion ‘The Grenadiers’ which also was previously Maharana Pratap’s forces. He graduated from the national defence academy and then the Indian Military Academy as the best all-around gentleman cadet and was awarded ‘The Sword of Honour’.

He is an Olympic Athlete participating in the sport of Shooting. He won two Gold Medals at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games, a Silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and a Bronze medal at the Asian Games Doha 2006 apart from winning 26 international medals for the country. He also jointly holds the official WORLD RECORD for the highest score in double trap shooting: 148 out of 150 targets, that is 99% of hits achieved in an international championship. 

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore took early retirement and joined BJP in Aug 2013. In November 2014, he was made the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and was appointed as a minister with Independent charge for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2017. 

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore’s wife, Dr. Gayatri Rathore has served in the army as a Major and they have two children. 

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore has been awarded AVSM, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, and Arjuna Awards.