New Delhi, 23 June

Union minister and veteran BJP leader from Kerala, George Kurian, on Tuesday resigned from the Union Council of Ministers following expiry of his Rajya Sabha term.

Kurian (65) was Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs and also for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

President Droupadi Murmu has accepted Kurian's resignation, a communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The BJP had decided not to renominate Kurian, whose term ended on 21 June, in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.

He was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in August 2024 from Madhya Pradesh for the remaining term of the seat vacated by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Scindia, who is currently Union Minister of Communications and also the Minister of Development of North Eastern Region, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madhya Pradesh's Guna constituency in June 2024.

The President of India, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted the resignation of Kurian from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution, the communique issued on Tuesday said.

"The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President," the clause read.

Former Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had also resigned from the Union Cabinet in July 2022, a day before the completion of his Rajya Sabha term.