Following his election as the leader of the BJP legislative party in Bihar, the NDA alliance has chosen Samrat Choudhary as its leader. Consequently, it is now confirmed that he will serve as the state’s new Chief Minister.
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Earlier, senior BJP leader and the party’s observer for Bihar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had announced that Samrat Choudhary had been elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party.
The meeting of the BJP legislative party, during which he was elected leader, took place in Patna on Tuesday, following Nitish Kumar’s resignation from the post of Chief Minister.
After being elected as the leader of the legislative party, Samrat Choudhary stated, “We will continue to uphold the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party—that of prioritizing India above all else and placing the party at the forefront.”
“Nitish Kumar has demonstrated how a government should be run and what is best for the democracy of Bihar. I certainly wish to assure everyone that, just as PM Modi has envisioned a ‘Developed India’ and Nitish Kumar has envisioned a ‘Prosperous Bihar,’ we will all work together to fulfill these dreams.”
Staked claim to form the government.
For over three decades, Bihar’s politics revolved around Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar. However, the state is now set to get a new Chief Minister.
While the BJP has been part of the ruling dispensation in the state, its role has been that of a partner rather than a leader.
Thus, Bihar stands as the only Hindi-speaking state where the BJP has never managed to secure the Chief Minister’s seat.
However, Bihar is now set to have its first BJP Chief Minister. After being elected as the leader of the NDA legislative party, Samrat Choudhary met with Governor Syed Ata Hasnain to stake his claim to form the government.
BJP leader Lakhendra Paswan announced that Samrat Choudhary will take the oath of office as Chief Minister tomorrow—that is, Wednesday—at 10:30 AM.
Speaking to the news agency ANI, he stated, “10:30 AM has been fixed as the time for the swearing-in ceremony. The NDA government will fulfill the pledge for Bihar’s development that Nitish Kumar had undertaken.”
Who Said What
Shivraj Singh stated, “Today, Vijay Kumar Sinha proposed the name of Samrat Chaudhary for the position of Leader of the BJP Legislature Party. Our entire legislature party unanimously endorsed Samrat Chaudhary’s name. Samrat Chaudhary has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Legislature Party.”
BJP ally and National Lok Morcha (RLM) leader Upendra Kushwaha congratulated Samrat Chaudhary on being elected as the Leader of the BJP Legislature Party.
He posted on the social media platform ‘X’: “Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Samrat Chaudhary *ji* on his new responsibility.”
Congratulating Samrat Chaudhary, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, “I would also like to congratulate Nitish Kumar *ji*, who decided to head to Delhi. It is precisely because of this that the current situation has emerged. He gave his blessings to Samrat Chaudhary, and the BJP Legislature Party, too, has elected Samrat Chaudhary as its leader.”
Meanwhile, BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha remarked, “We are soldiers of the BJP. This represents the third and fourth generation of our party. We have toiled on the ground and made sacrifices over the years. Now, the opportunity has arrived to make the ‘Lotus’ bloom. Acting in accordance with the directives of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s leadership—and with the aim of taking our coalition politics forward—we proposed Samrat Chaudhary’s name.”
His Political Journey So Far
Samrat Choudhary is one of those BJP leaders who do not hail from an RSS background.
His father, Shakuni Choudhary, was himself one of the founding members of the Samata Party.
Shakuni Choudhary was at times a close associate of Nitish, while at other times, he was a member of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s party, the RJD.
Shakuni Choudhary is counted among the prominent leaders of the Kushwaha community; he himself has served as both a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and a Member of Parliament (MP).
In other words, Samrat Choudhary possesses a political legacy that further enhances his political influence.
Samrat Choudhary—the son of Shakuni Choudhary—entered active politics in 1990.
According to the website of the Bihar Legislative Council, in 1995, he was imprisoned for 89 days in connection with a political case.
In 1999, Shakuni Choudhary extended his support to Rabri Devi’s government in Bihar, even though he himself was serving as a Member of Parliament at the time.
Subsequently, during the Bihar Assembly elections held in 2000, Samrat Choudhary won the election from the Parbatta constituency on an RJD ticket.
However, in the Assembly elections held in 2005, he was defeated by Ramanand Singh of the JD(U).
Samrat Choudhary was once again successful in winning the election from this constituency in 2010.
According to the Election Commission’s website, Samrat Choudhary—also known as Rakesh Kumar—defeated Ramanand Prasad Singh of the JD(U) in a closely contested election.
Taking responsibility for the JD(U)’s poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish appointed Jitan Ram Manjhi as Chief Minister.
At that time, Samrat Chaudhary, along with a few legislators, extended his support to Manjhi. In 2014, he was also appointed as the Minister for Urban Development.
In May 2014, Samrat Chaudhary resigned from the RJD and joined the JD(U). In 2015, the ‘Grand Alliance’ (Mahagathbandhan) contested the elections together in Bihar for the first time.
However, on that occasion, the JD(U fielded Ramanand Prasad Singh from the Parbatta constituency, and he emerged victorious.
In 2017, Samrat Chaudhary resigned from the JD(U) as well and joined the BJP. In March 2023, Samrat Chaudhary was appointed as the President of the Bihar BJP.
Subsequently, in early 2024—when Nitish Kumar parted ways with the RJD to form a government with the BJP once again—Samrat Chaudhary was chosen as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Following the victory of the BJP-JD(U) alliance in the 2025 Assembly elections, Samrat Chaudhary once again took the oath of office as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
