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A historic step was taken by the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government on Sunday as former shooter and Olympic silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was announced as the nation's new Sports Minister as part of the government's cabinet reshuffle. The 47-year-old thus became the first sportsperson to hold such a position in the government and the move was praised all around the sporting fraternity.
Rathore assumed office on Monday and just three days into his new role, he has already started putting things in order, as he shared images of him conducting a surprise inspection at the Sports Authority of India office at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. He added in his tweet, "Good not good enough when best needed. Athletes first philosophy must prevail."
Rathore is one of the greatest sportspersons the nation has seen and in 2004, he became the first shooter from the nation to win a medal at the Olympics with his silver-winning efforts in Athens in the men's double trap event. The medal was also India's first ever individual silver at the Games and set the foundation for the nation's shooters to succeed at future events.
He joined politics a few years back after retiring from the Army and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Rajasthan as a BJP candidate. He was then sworn in as the Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting, a post he still holds and last week, he was made the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. He replaces Vijay Goel, who after a topsy-turvy tenure, has been made the MoS for Parliamentary Affairs, Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The move to make Rathore the Sports Minister was hailed across the nation, with some of the nation's top athletes such as Abhinav Bindra and Milkha Singh hailing the move. His recent surprise inspection also received a lot of positive responses on social media as people expressed their confidence in Rathore to work towards the betterment of sport in the nation.
Here are some of the reactions:
