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In a historic step for Indian sport, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was announced as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet reshuffle. Additionally, he will remain as the MoS for the Information & Broadcasting Ministry as well.
Sources close to Sportskeeda have confirmed that he is expected to take office tomorrow on Monday and his first plan of action will be to take a look at the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). His appointment comes as a huge landmark as he becomes the first sportsperson to be made the minister of sport in India, a matter that has been raised umpteen times on past occasions.
He will succeed Mr. Vijay Goel, who had a topsy turvy tenure, and will look to use his experience as a world-class athlete to improve the situation of sport in the nation. Goel has been shifted away from the ministry and will now be the MoS for Parliamentary Affairs, Statistics and Programme Implementation.
This will mark a huge step in Rathore's political career as he becomes the MoS (Independent Charge) for the very first time. He entered politics in 2013 after a glittering sporting career and taking retirement from the Army, joining the Bharatiya Janta Party. He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the Jaipur Rural constituency, which he won and was sworn in as the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.
He has a trophy cabinet filled with medals from prestigious tournaments across the world. He is the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal after his silver at the 2004 Athens Games. He also has three gold medals from the Commonwealth Games to his name from 2002 and 2006, along with a silver. In 2004 and 2006, he won two World Championship golds as well in Sydney and Cairo respectively.
Rathore has had the honour of being India's flag bearer at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies. After his Athens silver, he was also given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and in 2005, he received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.
