Rajendra Singh Rathore

Rajendra Rathore (born 21 April 1955) is an Indian politician who served as leader of opposition in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. He is a former Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Churu. He lost 2023 Rajasthan Assembly Elections to senior Jat leader Narendra Budhania of Congress party from Taranagar constituency.

Rajendra Singh Rathore
Leader of the Opposition Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
In office 6 April 2023 – 4 December 2023
Chief Minister	Ashok Gehlot
Preceded by	Gulab Chand Kataria
Succeeded by	Tika Ram Jully
Minister of Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Government of Rajasthan
In office 10 December 2016 – 17 December 2018
Chief Minister	Vasundhara Raje
Preceded by	Surendra Goyal
Minister of Health & Family Welfare Government of Rajasthan
In office 21 December 2013 – 10 December 2016
Chief Minister	Vasundhara Raje
Succeeded by	Kali Charan Saraf
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Government of Rajasthan
In office 21 December 2013 – 17 December 2018
Chief Minister	Vasundhara Raje
Minister of Public Works Department Government of Rajasthan
In office 31 May 2004 – 10 December 2008
Chief Minister	Vasundhara Raje
Preceded by	Gulab Chand Kataria
Minister of Health & Family Welfare Government of Rajasthan
In office 11 December 1993 – 30 November 1998
Chief Minister	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
In office 2013–2023
Preceded by	Hazi Maqbool
Succeeded by	Harlal Saharan
Constituency	Churu
In office 2008–2013
Preceded by	Chandra Shekhar Baid
Succeeded by	Jai Narayan Poonia
Constituency	Taranagar
In office 1990–2008
Preceded by	Hamida Begum
Succeeded by	Hazi Maqbool
Constituency	Churu
Personal details
Born	(1955-04-21) 21 April 1955 Harpalsar, Rajasthan, India
Spouse	Chand Kanwar ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	1
Residence	Jaipur
Alma mater	University of Rajasthan
Occupation	Politician
Source: [1]

Early life and education

Rathore was born on 21 April 1955 in Harpalsar village, Sardarshahar, District Churu, Rajasthan. He was born to Uttam Singh Rathore, an RAS officer. He was schooled in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, and then obtained his M.A. in 1980, D.L.L. in 1978, L.L.B. in 1977 at Rajasthan University, Jaipur. He was elected as the president of the Student Union at Rajasthan University in 1979.

He married Chand Kanwar, on 23 February 1978. The couple has a son, Parakram Singh Rathore.

Political career

Rajendra Rathore has been a prominent face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan, for past 3 decades. He has emerged from numerous crises and has a strong grip on Rajput voters in the state; he enjoys huge popularity in Churu, Rajasthan. For over a decade and a half, Rathore along with the late Dr. Digamber Singh dominated the party in the state, while batting for Vasundhara Raje’s leadership in the state. After, Digamber Singh’s death in 2017, Rathore distanced himself from Raje. And post the 2018 Rajasthan election has appeared as a viable party leader for the state - heading into the 2023 assembly elections.

Membership of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

Assembly	Tenure	Constituency	Party
9th	1990 - 1993	Churu		Janata Dal
10th	1993 - 1998			Bharatiya Janata Party
11th	1998 - 2003
12th	2003 - 2008
13th	2008 - 2013	Taranagar
14th	2013 - 2018	Churu
15th	2018 - 2023

Positions held in Government of Rajasthan

SI No.	Post	Department or Ministry	Tenure
1.	MLA	Deputy Chief Whip	1991 - 1993
2.	Minister of State	Medical and Health, Medical Services (ESI).	1993 - 1998
3.	Cabinet Minister	Public Works Department and Parliamentary Affairs.	2003 - 2008
4.	Cabinet Minister	Medical and Health Services (ESI), Medical Education, Ayurveda & Indian Medical Methods.	2013 - 2016
5.	Cabinet Minister	Rural Development & Panchayati raj and Parliamentary Affairs, Election.	2016 - 2018
6.	MLA	Deputy Leader of the Opposition	2019 - 2023
7.	MLA	Leader of the Opposition	2023

Social works

• Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Medical College - In October 2018, Rathore took the unprecedented step of opening of Medical College in Churu which is now serving the medical study requirement of many students.
• Lohia Law College - Lohia College has started post graduate courses and graduate level courses.
• Churu Nature Park - In September 2018, he inaugurated the grand nature park in Churu. After Jaipur's Central Park in Rajasthan, the second largest nature park is located in Churu. It is built on 90 bighas of land and more than 10 thousand saplings of about 20 species have been planted under the Naturopathy system. It is equipped with facilities like yoga center, two acupressure tracks, sand path, open gym, watch tower, knowledge park, women park, children park and Swami Gopaldas open air theatre.
• Medical Relief Society - In 1993-98, Rathore was a pioneer in starting the Medical Relief Society while being the Minister of Medical and Health Department. This has been adopted by many Indian state governments since then.

References

2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/crisis-ploy-to-buy-power-from-pvt-firms-rathore/articleshow/91192983.cms. The Times of India 30 April 2022

4. https://www.abplive.com/states/rajasthan/rajasthan-bjp-leader-rajendra-rathore-object-congress-mlas-being-made-board-president-2060307. ABP Live 12 Feb 2022

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v0qWTkOWgc. Zee Rajasthan 13 Dec 2021