Union Minister of State and BJP leader from Kerala George Kurian, who was not renominated to the Rajya Sabha in the recent Senate elections despite his term ending, resigned from the Union Cabinet on Tuesday.
Kurian, who served as Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, was the only Christian minister in the government. His term ended on June 21. The President has accepted his resignation with immediate effect, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said on Tuesday. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) staff indicated that he may receive organizational responsibilities in his home state.
He has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in August 2024 from Madhya Pradesh for the remaining term from the seat vacated by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The Rajya Sabha term of another state minister, Ravneet Singh Bittu, ended on Sunday. He too may step down as the BJP has not given him a new term in the Senate.
Hours after Kurien’s resignation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on President Draupadi Murmu, sparking speculation about an imminent redistribution of portfolios in the Union Cabinet. The third NDA government led by Narendra Modi, which was formed on June 9, 2024 and completed two years, is yet to witness a cabinet reshuffle.
Such speculation has grown stronger in recent months, with the NDA coalition in Bihar undergoing a structural change and the BJP coming to power in West Bengal for the first time. In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from his post, and Samrat Chaudhary of the Bharatiya Janata Party took power. These developments may lead to changes in the inclusion of ministers from these two countries.
A BJP leader pointed out that more than nine ministers are currently holding more than one portfolio, some of which may be reallocated. “The renewed strength of two of the NDA’s allies – the Shiv Sena and the NDA, may also be taken into account during the reshuffle,” a second BJP leader said.
To be sure, the Lok Sabha Speaker has not yet decided on the status of the MPs who have defected from their parties.
The 20 MPs who defected from the TMC met in the Lok Sabha with Speaker Om Birla to join the non-descript NCPI party in one of the biggest defections in recent times. Days later, the Shiv Sena claimed that 6 of the Sena’s nine MLAs (UBT) were with them.
