BJP’s lone Christian minister resigns: Who is George Kurian?

4 min readUpdated: Jun 23, 2026 04:27 PM IST

A lawyer by profession, Kurian, 65, has been associated with the Sangh Parivar since 1980 and joined the BJP at its inception. (ANI)

George Kurian, the BJP’s lone Christian face in the Union Council of Ministers, resigned as Union Minister on Tuesday after the party decided not to renominate him to the Rajya Sabha following the expiry of his term on June 21.

This comes amid the buzz that the Union Council of Ministers could undergo a reshuffle along with a rejig in the BJP organisation. Sources said Kurian had not been informed before the party announced its list of Rajya Sabha candidates that he would not get another tenure in the Upper House.

“I got the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and I submitted the resignation yesterday itself. Becoming a Union Minister was something I had never imagined, even in my dreams. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose me to become a minister, and I conveyed my gratitude to him. Today, I was informed that the President has accepted my resignation,” Kurian said in a Facebook post.

Sources said Kurian was informed in advance that the party would not be renominating him to the Upper House.

A lawyer by profession, Kurian, 65, has been associated with the Sangh Parivar since 1980 and joined the BJP at its inception. Hailing from Kottayam, he rose through the ranks of the party, serving in both the state and national leadership of the BJP Yuva Morcha before moving into senior positions in the Kerala BJP. He later became a party spokesperson, general secretary and vice-president of the BJP’s Kerala unit.

Kurian’s long association with the BJP stood out at a time when the party had little presence among Kerala’s Christian community. Unlike several other Christian leaders in the state, he was widely seen within the party as a loyal organisational worker rather than a political opportunist.

He also served as vice-chairman of the National Commission for Minorities. During his tenure there, Kurian echoed concerns raised by sections of Kerala’s Christian community over the “love jihad” controversy.

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Electorally, Kurian faced setbacks in Kerala. He lost the 2016 Assembly election from Puthuppally to then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and was defeated again from Kanjirappally in the recent Assembly polls.

Kurian’s elevation to the Union Cabinet in June 2024 was widely viewed as part of the BJP’s outreach to Christians in Kerala. The move came months after actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, backed significantly by Christian voters, became the BJP’s first Lok Sabha MP from the state. Kurian, a member of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, belonged to a community that has remained central to the BJP’s Christian outreach efforts in Kerala.

After being elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, Kurian was inducted into the Modi government as Minister of State and was assigned portfolios such as Minority Affairs, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

A vocal leader

As a Union Minister, Kurian consistently defended the BJP’s position on issues involving the Christian community in Kerala.

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In July 2024, when the Congress and the CPI(M) accused the Centre of neglecting Kerala in the Union Budget, Kurian countered that the state would have to declare itself backward in education, infrastructure and social welfare if it sought greater Central assistance.

Later that year, controversy erupted after a Bharat Mata portrait carrying a saffron flag was displayed at Kerala’s Lok Bhavan. Kurian backed the Governor’s position, stating that “everything is secondary to Bharat Mata”, drawing criticism from both the Congress and the CPI(M).

He also supported the BJP-RSS stand when schoolchildren sang an RSS gana geetham during the inaugural run of a Vande Bharat train between Kochi and Bengaluru, a move that triggered political controversy in the state.

In 2025, when two Kerala-born Catholic nuns were arrested in Chhattisgarh on allegations of religious conversion, Kurian refrained from taking a public position, saying he was constrained by his role as a Union Minister. Even after Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar asserted that the nuns were not involved in conversion activities, Kurian declined to enter the debate.

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Known as a familiar face on television debates, Kurian was often tasked with translating speeches of Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during BJP programmes in Kerala.

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Shaju Philip is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, where he leads the publication's coverage from Kerala. With over 25 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is one of the most authoritative voices on the socio-political, religious, and developmental landscape of South India.

Expertise, Experience, and Authority

Decades of Regional Specialization: Shaju has spent more than two decades documenting the "Kerala Model" of development, its complex communal dynamics, and its high-stakes political environment.

Key Coverage Beats: His extensive reporting portfolio includes:

Political & Governance Analysis: In-depth tracking of the LDF and UDF coalitions, the growth of the BJP in the state, and the intricate workings of the Kerala administration.

Crime & Investigative Journalism: Noted for his coverage of high-profile cases such as the gold smuggling probe, political killings, and the state’s counter-terrorism efforts regarding radicalization modules.

Crisis Management: He has led ground-level reporting during major regional crises, including the devastating 2018 floods, the Nipah virus outbreaks, and the Covid-19 pandemic response. ... Read More

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