L. Murugan resigns from Ministry, Rajya Sabha seat, setting off buzz about a pre-Deepavali Cabinet reset

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs L. Murugan resigned from the Council of Ministers and his Rajya Sabha seat on Tuesday (October 13, 2026), setting off speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle in the near future.

Mr. Murugan hails from Tamil Nadu, but represented Madhya Pradesh in the Upper House. His term as an MP was not set to end till 2030. The BJP’s strength in M.P. ensures that his vacated seat will be won by a party MP, paving the way for a new inclusion into the Council of Ministers.

Slew of vacancies

Two other Union Ministers of State, George Kurien and Ravneet Singh Bittu, had already tendered their resignations at the end of their respective terms in the Upper House earlier this year. The Rajya Sabha terms of Union Ministers Hardeep Puri and B.L. Verma are also set to end next month, even as the BJP got eight new faces into the Upper House from Uttar Pradesh, along with one each from West Bengal and Uttarakhand. Also, over the summer, Dharmendra Pradhan was forced to resign as Education Minister, and that post is now being held as an additional charge by Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

There are also rumours that two more Ministers of State, Pankaj Choudhary and Harsh Malhotra, may put in their papers after being appointed the chiefs of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh and Delhi units respectively, but BJP sources said that “nothing has been finalised yet.”

Thus, there are at least half a dozen Ministerial berths lying vacant. BJP sources said that a Cabinet reshuffle may take place before Deepavali. This would be the first reshuffle of the Union Cabinet since Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister for his third successive term, with 71 Ministers taking oath alongside him.

Return to Tamil Nadu

Speaking about his resignation from both the Council and the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Murugan said that he wished to return to his State and prepare the party unit for the next Lok Sabha election. “I have written a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing my desire to go to Tamil Nadu. I want to strengthen my party in the state and prepare the ground for the 2029 elections,” he said.

“Our Prime Minister has always taken Tamil pride to the global level... Two days ago, our Hon’ble Prime Minister also visited Tamil Nadu. I witnessed the people’s enthusiasm, love and affection towards him. Therefore, I thought I should go there and work more extensively to strengthen our party. I requested the Prime Minister to relieve me of my ministerial responsibilities and send me to the state to strengthen the party,” he added.