Meet George Kurian, BJP's Kanjirappally Candidate For Kerala Elections

The BJP has fielded Union Minister George Kurian from the Kanjirappally constituency for the upcoming 2026 Kerala Assembly elections. 

The polls in Kerala are scheduled for April 9, when voters across the state will elect 140 members to the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The votes will be counted on May 4. 

Who Is George Kurian? 

George Kurian was born on September 20, 1960, in Nambiakulam in Kerala's Kottayam district. He earned a Bachelor of Legislative Law (LLB) in 1985 from the Indian School of Legal Thought, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, and later completed a Master of Arts. He practised law as an advocate in the Supreme Court. 

At the age of 19, Kurian joined the newly formed BJP, after a faction of socialists left the Janata Party to merge with Jana Sangham in 1980. His decision, as a young Christian, to align with a right-wing party was met with disapproval, even from his family.  

Kurian began his political career through student movements. In almost five decades with BJP, Kurian has held multiple positions. He was an executive member of the BJP Kerala state unit, spokesperson, and national vice president of the BJP minority morcha. 

He also served as a board member of the National Commission for Minorities and was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the then Union Minister of State for Railways, O Rajagopal. 

Kurian became the first Malayali to serve as vice-chairman of the National Commission for Minorities. He was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's translator during his visits to Kerala.

In 2016, Kurian contested the Puthuppally Assembly constituency as a BJP candidate but lost to the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Later, he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. 

George Kurian is the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (since 2018) and Minority Affairs (since 2024). 

Annakutty, his wife, is a retired nursing officer in the Indian Army.