Santosh Kumar Gangwar (born 1 November 1948) is an Indian politician currently serving as the

Governor of Jharkhand The governor of Jharkhand is the nominal head of the India, Indian state of Jharkhand. The governor is appointed by the president of India. Though all official affairs of the state are administered and carried out in the name of the governor, t ...

. He is a former

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. He was a Member of Parliament (16th Lok Sabha), former

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

and a leader of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP). He has been Member of Parliament for the city of

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

since 1989 till date (except 2009–2014). He was also the chief whip of the party in 14th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

. He faced defeat in the 15th Lok Sabha Elections, 2009 by a very narrow margin by Praveen Singh Aron. Gangwar was the chairman of the

Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

in 2009. He has been elected as Member of Parliament in

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 May ...

. He won by a margin of over 2.4 lakh votes over his rival candidate in 2014 general election. He resigned from the post of cabinet minister ahead of the cabinet reshuffle in July 2021. He is formerly the Chairperson of the

Committee on Public Undertakings The Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) is one of three financial standing committees within the Parliament of India, composed of selected members of Parliament with the stated purpose of examining the reports and accounts of public sector u ...

. Santosh Gangwar was appointed the

by President

Droupadi Murmu Droupadi Murmu (born Durgi Biranchi Tudu; 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the president of India since 2022. She won the 2022 Indian presidential election, 2022 presidential election as the Bharatiya Janata Party ...

on 27 June 2024.

Early life

Born on 1 November 1948 in Bareilly, he studied in

Bareilly College Bareilly College, Bareilly (BCB) is an institution located in the metropolis of Bareilly in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The college is affiliated with the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, and has been affiliated with the Ag ...

and did his B.Sc. in 1967 and LLB in 1970. At that time Bareilly College was an affiliated college of

Agra University Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university, formerly named as Agra University, was later named after Bhimrao Ambedkar. Affiliated colleges The U ...

and Gangwar was awarded both BSc and LLB degrees from

. Before joining politics, Gangwar was actively involved in the establishment of the Urban Cooperative Bank in Bareilly and held the position of its chairman since its beginning in the year 1996. In Bareilly, he has been given credit for getting several projects executed for public use such as Chaupla Railway over-bridge, a library, and a mini bypass. Married to Saubhagya Gangwar, they have two children. He suffers from

vitiligo Vitiligo (, ) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes patches of skin to lose pigment or color. The cause of vitiligo is unknown, but it may be related to immune system changes, genetic factors, stress, or sun exposure, and susceptibili ...

Career

Gangwar was jailed during the Emergency for guiding a people's movement against the then Government. He served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh State BJP Working Committee and held the position of General Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh BJP Unit in 1996. Gangwar was elected for the first time to the 9th

in 1989 from the

constituency. He represented that constituency continuously until 2009 as a BJP Member of Parliament, which involved six successive terms. He has held ministerial posts in the Government of India. He was Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas with the additional charge of Parliament Affairs in 13th

. Prior to this, Gangwar was Minister of State of Science and Technology with the additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs during October and November 1999. Santosh Gangwar is a Member of Parliament in the

. He served as Minister of State for

Textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

from 26 May 2014 to 5 July 2016, after which he was sworn in as Minister of State for

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

. Gangwar forayed into national politics in the year 1989, when he got elected from Bareilly in the 9th Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket. In 1996, Gangwar became the General Secretary of the BJP's

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

unit. Later, he kept on winning from the same constituency and remained an MP in the next six successive terms till 2009. In the 14th Lok Sabha, he was the chief whip of his party, but in the year 2009 elections for 15th Lok Sabha, he had to face defeat by a narrow margin. In April 2018 Gangwar stirred controversy by saying that "one should not make a big deal" about rape in a country as large as India. The statements followed two incidents where BJP leaders were implicated in violent sexual assault of minors. 27 May 2014 onwards Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Textiles; Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. In May 2019, Gangwar became the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment.

References

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External links

*
Official biography from Parliament of India records

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gangwar, Santosh 1948 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Politicians from Bareilly India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2014–2019 India MPs 2019–2024 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Union ministers of state of India with independent charge Narendra Modi ministry Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni People with vitiligo Governors of Jharkhand