Career
Over the following nine years, Kurup served as a minister in Kitingan"s government. In 1994, Kitingan"s government came to an end after a series of defections from the Public Broadcasting Service to Barisan Nasional. Kurup was one of the leaders of the defectors, setting up the PBRS, gaining admission for the new party to Barisan Nasional, and winning appointment as Deputy Chief Minister in the new Barisan Nasional state government.
In 1999, Kurup faced his first electoral test since the defection, and suffered a double defeat: he ran against Kitingan in the federal seat of Keningau, and lost, and was also defeated by Kitingan"s brother Jeffrey for the State Assembly seat of Bingkor.
lieutenant was not until 2004, after the Public Broadcasting Service had also joined Barisan Nasional, that Kurup returned to an elected position, winning back the State Assembly seat of Sook. Meanwhile, in 2002, he had been challenged for the PBRS presidency by Jeffrey Kitingan, and survived after a decision by the Registrar of Societies.
Jeffrey had left Public Broadcasting Service to join PBRS in 1999. He was elected unopposed after the People"s Justice Party (PKR) candidate had been unable to submit his nomination on time.
PKR challenged Kurup"s election in court, but Kurup prevailed.
After his election, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi appointed Kurup as Deputy Minister for Rural and Regional Development. He shifted to Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment when Najib Razak became Prime Minister in 2009.