 He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009 from the same constituency as a Biju Janata Dal candidate.He was the Union Minister of water resources in Atal Bihari Vajpayee led government from 2000 to 2004.In 2019, he left Biju Janata Dal to join Bharatiya Janata Party with his son Abhimanyu Sethi.