Santosh Gangwar was a Member of Parliament for Bareilly for 20 years (1989–2009). He was a former Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, with an additional charge of Parliament Affairs in the 13th Lok Sabha. Before this, Gangwar was Minister of State of Science and Technology with an additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs from October to November 1999 and chief whip of the BJP in the 14th Lok Sabha. He was narrowly defeated in the 15th Lok Sabha elections in 2009.