Union Minister of State (MoS) L Murugan resigned from the Union government on 13 October. Murugan, the junior minister in Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, said he wanted to return to his ‘grassroots’ in Tamil Nadu to strengthen the BJP in the state.
Murugan has also resigned as a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP). His resignation has raised speculation about an imminent reshuffle in the Council of Ministers.
This is the third resignation of a Minister of State (MoS) from the Council of Ministers, following those of George Kurian and Ravneet Singh Bittu, who resigned in June and July, respectively, after they were not renominated for the Rajya Sabha by the BJP.
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was also not renominated by the BJP in the just-concluded Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh. However, he remains a member of the Union Cabinet.
Similarly, MoS in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, BL Verma, was also not renominated for the polls to the Upper House. He, too, continues to be in office.
Two other MoS, Pankaj Chaudhary and Harsh Malhotra, who were made chiefs of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh and Delhi units, respectively, in recent months, continue to discharge both responsibilities.
“I requested our Prime Minister to relieve me from the Council of Ministers and the Rajya Sabha because I want to go to Tamil Nadu to strengthen our party.
Who is L Murugan?
L Murugan was born on May 29, 1977, in Konur, Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu, according to the official website of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
He has a law degree from Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law College in Chennai. He also has a Master’s and a PhD from the University of Madras.
Murugan joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in 1997. In the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Murugan served as the national general secretary of its Scheduled Caste division.
On March 12, 2020, Murugan was appointed as chief of the BJP’S Tamil Nadu unit.
Murugan served as minister of state (MoS) in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in 2024. Before this, from 2017 to 2020, he also served as the vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
Murugan lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to DMK’s A Raja in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris constituency, but was inducted into the NDA’s council of ministers through the Rajya Sabha.
Murugan has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since September 2021 and was re-elected to the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh in April 2024. His tenure ends in April 2030. The minister said he wants to give up his Rajya Sabha membership.
Murugan practised law for at least 15 years and also serves as the Standing Counsel to the Government of India at the Madras High Court.
“In my letter to the Prime Minister, I stated that I want to strengthen our party by going to villages, streets and everywhere else, and prepare the ground for the 2029 parliamentary elections,” Murugan told PTI.
In the letter, Murugan said it was the “greatest honour” of his life to serve “Bharat Mata” and Tamil Nadu under his leadership.
“With humility and a grateful heart, I therefore request you to relieve me of my responsibility as MoS and permit me to relinquish my membership of the Rajya Sabha, so that I may dedicate full time to strengthening the party in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
‘Son of daily wage labourers’
Murugan said that his journey, from being the son of daily-wage labourers to serving in the Union Council of Ministers under the leadership of PM Modi, has been the greatest privilege of his life.
“Now, I wish to return to the grassroots, stand with our ‘karyakartas’ and dedicate myself full-time to strengthening the BJP in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Nation First. Party Next. Self Last,” he said.
Murugan said the love and hope he witnessed during the prime minister’s recent visit to Tamil Nadu have strengthened his conviction that the party can achieve much more in the state.
“Now, I wish to return to the grassroots, stand with our ‘karyakartas’ and dedicate myself full-time to strengthening the BJP in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.”
“I wish to devote my full time and energy to preparing the party for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, working towards another term under your leadership, this time with a landslide contribution of seats from Tamil Nadu.
(With agency inputs)
About the Author
Gulam Jeelani
Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.
Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.
Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.
Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.
Jeelani is a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.
