The Rolling Stone – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is a politician from the BJP, born on January 29, 1970. Earlier, he served in the Indian Army during the Kargil War. He also won an Olympic Medal and several other international accolades for shooting events.
The Multifaceted Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore; Source: Public Domain

The Multifaceted Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore; Source: Public Domain

Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is an army officer turned Olympic medallist, turned politician. He was born on January 29, 1970, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. His father served in the army, Rajyavardhan himself served till the rank of a Colonel and Rathore’s wife too is a part of the army, as a doctor. Though the timespan he spent on each of these professions is not too long, Rathore has managed to make a mark in each of them.

After completing his schooling, Rathore was enrolled in the National Defence Academy, followed by the Indian Military Academy. At the IMA, Rathore proved himself as a promising all-rounder, as he won the Sword of Honour, and was awarded the medal for being the best sportsman of his course. Soon after, he became a part of the Mewar regiment and fought in the Kargil War. He was also a part of counter-terrorism ops in Jammu and Kashmir.

For his service, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.

While still serving in the Indian Army, Col. Rathore represented India internationally at shooting events. He won a vast number of medals at these international meets, such as World Shooting Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the 2004 edition of the Olympic Games held at Athens, Greece. His event was Double Trap, for which the shooter won 25 medals internationally. Apart from the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the Olympics, Rathore was also presented with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the pride he brought back home.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore sought to politics much later, in 2013.

Once he had retired from the army, he contested elections on behalf of the Bharatiya Janta Party from the Jaipur Rural Constituency. Here too, he won the competition – he emerged successful in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Consequently, he was also made the Minister of Information and Broadcasting under PM Modi’s cabinet of ministers.

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