Santosh Gangwar

Santosh Kumar Gangwar (born 1 November 1948) is an Indian politician currently serving as the eleventh Governor of Jharkhand since 2024. He is a former Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Government of India. He was a Member of Parliament (16th Lok Sabha), former minister of state in Government of India and a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has been Member of Parliament for the city of Bareilly for almost three decades. He was also the chief whip of the party in 14th Lok Sabha.

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 in 2009. He has been elected as Member of Parliament 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 formerly the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings.

Santosh Gangwar was appointed the Governor of Jharkhand by President Droupadi Murmu on 27 June 2024.

Early life Born on 1 November 1948 in Bareilly, he studied in Bareilly College, Bareilly and did his B.Sc. in 1967 and LLB in 1970. At that time Bareilly College was an affiliated college of Agra University and Gangwar was awarded both BSc and LLB degrees from Agra University.

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.

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 Lok Sabha in 1989 from the Bareilly 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.

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.

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.

Governor of Jharkhand (2024–present) Gangwar was appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand by President Droupadi Murmu on 27 June 2024 and took oath on 31 July 2024.