Santosh Kumar Gangwar (born 1 November 1948) is an Indian politician and the former Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. He is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(16th Lok Sabha), former minister of state in

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. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

(BJP). He has been

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

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

. He faced defeat in the 15th Lok Sabha Elections, 2009 by a very narrow margin. Gangwar was the chairman of the PAC Public Accounts Committee (India) in 2009. He has been elected as

in 16th Lok Sabha. 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 currently the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings.

Early life

Born on 1 November 1948 in Bareilly, Santosh Kumar Gangwar attended Agra University and the Rohilkhand University in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, from where he completed his B. Sc. and LLB Degrees respectively. He studied in Bareilly College, Bareilly only but during his B.Sc. it was affiliated to Agra University and during LLB Rohilkhand University was founded and the college was naturally affiliated with the same. Bareilly College, Bareilly is a very old institution which was affiliated to Calcutta University, Allahabad University, Agra University and now Rohilkhand University, Bareilly. 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, he is blessed with two children, Apoorv Gangwar and Shruti Gangwar. He suffers from vitiligo.

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 Bareilly constituency. He represented that constituency continuously until 2009 as a BJP

, 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 16th Lok Sabha. He served as Minister of State for

Textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

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