Rajasthan polls: BJP's Rajyavardhan Rathore wins from Jhotwara with margin of 50,000 votes

BJP candidate and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the Jhotwara assembly seat in Rajasthan by a margin of 50,167 votes, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday. The 53-year-old former Union minister secured 1,47,913 votes and defeated his nearest rival Abhishek Choudhary of the Congress.

BJP rebel Ashu Singh Surpura, who contested as an independent candidate, stood in the third position with 55,159 votes.

Rathore is a national spokesperson of the BJP.


Before entering politics in September 2013, the ace shooter and former Olympic silver medallist served in the Army for 23 years. He took voluntary retirement in 2013.

Rathore won a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics in double trap shooting.

He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and won from the Jaipur Rural seat. He was sworn in as the minister of state for information and broadcasting in November 2014.

Rathore was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2019 general elections.

Polling on 199 of the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan was held on November 25.