George Kurian exits Council of Ministers; reshuffle buzz gains traction

BJP did not renominate Kurian to the Rajya Sabha; his exit has renewed speculation about a possible Cabinet reshuffle ahead

Union Minister of State (MoS) George Kurian resigned from the council of ministers, and President Droupadi Murmu accepted his resignation with immediate effect as advised by the Prime Minister, according to a Tuesday morning press communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

 

Kurian resigned following his Rajya Sabha term ending on June 21 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having not re-nominated him to the Upper House in the recent elections. Kurian contested the Kerala Assembly polls in April-May from the Kanjirappally constituency, where he secured around 20 per cent of the votes and finished third.

 

Kurian, along with Ravneet Singh Bittu, was one of the two union ministers not re-nominated by the BJP for the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections even though their tenures were coming to an end. Bittu, who earlier this month said he is keen to contest the Punjab Assembly polls, slated for February-March next year, can continue in the Union Council of Ministers without being a member of either of the two Houses for a period of six months.

 

 

Two other union ministers, Harsh Malhotra and Pankaj Chaudhary, have been elected as presidents of the BJP’s state units of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, in recent months. The BJP’s constitution mandates ‘one person one post’. The developments have led to speculation that a cabinet reshuffle could be on the anvil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not reshuffled or expanded his council of ministers even once in his third term in office.

 

Kurian, 65, the only Christian in the Union Council of Ministers, was MoS in the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He was sworn in as a minister on June 9, 2024, and was elected to the Rajya Sabha at the end of August that year. Party sources said Kurian will take up organisational work in Kerala.