The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, George Kurian, has stepped down from his position, with President Droupadi Murmu accepting his resignation from the Council of Ministers.
Kurian, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Kerala, was serving as Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs and also held responsibilities in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He was inducted into the Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet in June 2024.
The development comes as Kurian’s Rajya Sabha tenure from Madhya Pradesh draws to a close. His term was set to expire in June 2026 after he was elected to the Upper House in a bypoll in 2024.
The BJP recently announced its candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections but did not include Kurian among its nominees.
Instead, the party fielded senior leader Tarun Chugh from Madhya Pradesh, a move that triggered speculation about changes within the Union Council of Ministers.
Kurian’s exclusion from the BJP’s Rajya Sabha list effectively meant that he would no longer remain a member of Parliament after the completion of his current term.
Under constitutional provisions, a minister who is not a member of either House of Parliament for more than six months cannot continue in office, making his resignation inevitable.
A lawyer by profession, Kurian has long been associated with the BJP’s organisational structure and has been one of the party’s prominent Christian faces in Kerala.
Before entering the Union Cabinet, he served in several party and public positions, including roles linked to minority affairs.
His exit has intensified discussions about a possible cabinet reshuffle, especially after another Union minister, Ravneet Singh Bittu, was also left out of the BJP’s Rajya Sabha nominations.
Political observers believe the party may soon announce fresh appointments and portfolio reallocations.
While neither the BJP nor Kurian has publicly indicated the next course of action, his resignation marks a significant change in the government’s ministerial lineup ahead of the upcoming parliamentary session.
