Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Tamil Nadu leader L Murugan on Tuesday tendered his resignation from the Union council of ministers, and also sought permission to quit his Rajya Sabha seat. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Murugan said he wished to return to Tamil Nadu in order to strengthen the BJP there.
Murugan was Tamil Nadu state unit chief of the BJP before being inducted into the Union council of ministers in July 2021 and elected to the Rajya Sabha in September 2021. Re-elected to the upper house from Madhya Pradesh in 2024, his term is set to end in 2030. As a minister of state (MoS), he handled the portfolios of information and broadcasting, and parliamentary affairs.
Murugan’s resignation comes amid speculation over an impending ministerial reshuffle. He is the third MoS to quit in recent months after George Kurian and Ravneet Singh Bittu resigned in June and July, respectively, after the BJP failed to renominate them for Rajya Sabha elections.
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and MoS B L Verma were also not renominated by the BJP in the just-concluded Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh. However, the two continue to be in office.
Two other MoS, Pankaj Chaudhary and Harsh Malhotra, were made chief of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh and Delhi units respectively in recent months. They continue to discharge the twin responsibilities, although the BJP follows a ‘one person one post’ principle.
In his letter to the PM, Murugan said he wanted to “dedicate full time to strengthening the party in Tamil Nadu”. Murugan said that from being the son of daily wage labourers to serving in the Union Council of Ministers under the leadership of Modi has been the greatest privilege of his life.
Murugan, a Dalit leader, contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket from the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, but lost to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s A Raja. He lost the 2026 Assembly polls from Avanashi to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam candidate.
Kurian contested the Kerala Assembly polls in April-May from Kanjirappally, which he lost. He was the only Christian in the council of ministers.
