Ambikapur · Surguja · Chhattisgarh

Rajesh
Agrawal

राजेश अग्रवाल

Cabinet Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Religious Trusts & Endowments, Government of Chhattisgarh. Member of the Legislative Assembly from Ambikapur since December 2023.

Read his journey Contact the office

Rajesh Agrawal in a navy bandhgala jacket and white shirt

94
Vote margin: 90,780
Votes polled: 20 Aug 2025
Sworn in: 3
Departments

01 — Profile

From Lakhanpur to the state cabinet

लखनपुर से मंत्रिमंडल तक

Rajesh Agrawal comes from Lakhanpur near Ambikapur in Surguja district. A businessman and agriculturist by profession, he joined the BJP in 2018 after leaving the Congress, and in the 2023 Assembly election won Ambikapur by 94 votes against the then Deputy Chief Minister T. S. Singh Deo.

In August 2025 he was inducted into Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai's cabinet and given charge of Tourism, Culture, and Religious Trusts & Endowments.

On 30 July 2026 he called on the Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. She received a delegation from Bastar — winners of Bastar Pandum 2026, Manjhi and Chalki leaders, Padma Shri awardees and artists — and called the region's tribal heritage an invaluable national treasure.

Source: Wikipedia · Source: Times of India, 20 Aug 2025 · Source: Press Information Bureau, 30 July 2026 · Source: DPR Chhattisgarh, on the Rashtrapati Bhavan call · Source: The Indian Express, on the Rashtrapati Bhavan call

2018 — Joined the BJP
2023 — Elected MLA, Ambikapur
2025 — Cabinet Minister

Full timeline

02 — Portfolio

Departments in his charge

तीन विभाग

Tourism, Culture, and Religious Trusts & Endowments have been his charge since the cabinet expansion of 20 August 2025. What follows is each department’s own public account, and the figures he stated on 26 August 2026.

Tourism

पर्यटन

The Chhattisgarh Tourism Board was established on 18 January 2002 and registered on 8 April 2003. Its governors come from the state government and from the travel trade. The board’s site is where destinations, hotels, homestays and packages are published.

By 2028 he wants the state known for natural, cultural, eco-ethnic and spiritual travel. Chitrakote and Tirathgarh are the natural places he named; Mainpat and Jashpur are marked for visitor facilities.
Tourism Policy-2026, as he stated it, puts sustainable development, private investment, community stays and local participation first.
Budget 2026–27 sets aside ₹10 crore for a homestay policy and ₹5 crore for Mainpat.

Chhattisgarh Tourism Board

Photo: Chitrakote Falls, Tourism Board, Bastar. Board dates from the board’s own site. The 2028 plan: Indian Masterminds, 26 August 2026. Budget lines: DPR Chhattisgarh, 24 February 2026.

Culture

संस्कृति

The Department of Culture and Language says its work is to identify, document and carry forward the traditions already there: folk song and dance, festivals, crafts, and both written and unwritten practice. The directorate is in Sector 27, Atal Nagar–Nava Raipur.

Its own account names Chakradhar Samaroh, Sirpur Mahotsav, Rajim Kumbh and Bastar Lokotsav.
He has reported medical grants from the Artist Welfare Fund, the Chief Minister Folk Artist Promotion Scheme, and monthly assistance for senior artists and writers.
More than 12 lakh pages on Chhattisgarh have been digitised for a public archive. Programmes he named include Pandavani, Panthi, Karma and Dewar Geet.

Culture Department

Photo and department account: cgculture.in. Artist figures and the archive: Indian Masterminds, 26 August 2026.

The white shikharas of Maa Beri Wali Mandir in Sakti

Religious Trusts & Endowments

धार्मिक न्यास एवं धर्मस्व

This charge covers temple trusts, endowments and pilgrimage. He has named Maa Danteshwari and Maa Mahamaya for religious tourism, and a proposal for the Ratanpur Mahamaya temple area.

With IRCTC, the Ram Lalla Ayodhya Dham Darshan Yojana has run 61 trains and carried more than 50,000 devotees to Ayodhya and Kashi, as stated at the briefing.
Budget 2026–27 sets aside ₹5 crore for a Shaktipeeth circuit.
As MLA, on 7 October 2024, he flagged off a special train from Ambikapur with pilgrims from all six districts of the Surguja division.

Sakti on the Tourism Board

This department does not publish a site of its own. The temple photograph is Maa Beri Wali Mandir on the Tourism Board’s Sakti page. The secretariat charge is listed by the General Administration Department. Trains and temples: Indian Masterminds, 26 August 2026. Shaktipeeth line: DPR Chhattisgarh, 24 February 2026. The Ambikapur train: Khabarwala News, 7 October 2024.

See work & development

03 — Coverage

Recent in the press

हाल की खबरें

All coverage

Dainik Chhattisgarh · 22 Sep 2026नवा रायपुर स्थित निवास कार्यालय में जनदर्शन, नागरिकों से सुनीं समस्याएं और मांगेंAt his Nava Raipur residence he heard citizens’ problems and demands.Read the report