About Col Rajyavardhan Rathore

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore is a Cabinet Minister from Rajasthan and a two time Member of Parliament from 2014 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2023 representing Jaipur Rural. He served in the Indian Army for 26 years, including in Jammu and Kashmir, where he participated in counter-terrorist operations. He graduated from the National Defence Academy and then the Indian Military Academy at the top of his course and was awarded ‘The Sword of Honour’.

He has the honour of winning India’s first Olympic Silver Medal at Athens 2004 Olympics in the sport of Shooting. He also had the honour of being the flag bearer for Indian contingent at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. He has won back to back Gold Medals at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games 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 of the highest score in double trap shooting: 148 out of 150 targets, that is 99% hits achieved in an international championship. 

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore took an 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. He is also the national spokesperson for BJP since 2019. Currently, he holds ministerial positions in the Department of Information Technology and Communications, the Department of Industry and Commerce, the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Department of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Department of Military Welfare within the Rajasthan government.

Col Rajyavardhan Rathore has been awarded AVSM, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award by the President of India.