Patna: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary was elected the BJP legislature party leader on Tuesday, Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.
The BJP, the single largest party in the 243-strong assembly with 89 MLAs, elected Choudhary as its legislature party leader soon after Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and became a Rajya Sabha MP last week, submitted his resignation to Governor Syed Ata Hasnain as the chief minister.
Chouhan, whom the BJP parliamentary board named central observer for the legislature party leader’s election, told reporters, “Samrat Chaudhary was unanimously elected as the BJP’s legislature party leader.”
Choudhary, BJP MLA from Tarapur, will be the next CM of Bihar after his election as the NDA legislature party.
The Union agriculture minister added that Samrat, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would carry forward the sterling work done by outgoing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
“We are happy over the developments. The entire leadership of our party will rest only after turning Bihar into a leading state of the country,” Chouhan said.
Chouhan also praised Nitish’s various works, including 50 percent reservation for women in local self-government bodies, empowering women financially through the Jeevika rural livelihood project, and making Bihar the first state in the country to bring forth the agriculture roadmap.
Samrat was later elected as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) legislature party leader in Nitish’s presence. He will take the oath at the Lok Bhavan on Wednesday on April 15.
The BJP is the largest party in the Bihar Assembly with 88 MLAs, while the second largest party – Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) (JDU) with 85 MLAs – has already expressed its support for him.
Expressing gratitude on the occasion, Samrat, an MLA from Tarapur constituency in Munger district, said: “The immense opportunity that the BJP has given me to work is incomparable in my 30-years in politics. I joined the party in 2017. I am thankful that the party has imposed its trust in me and has given me the responsibility. It has given me an opportunity to work on various positions right from a party-worker to deputy chief minister.”
The chief minister-elect asserted that he would do his best to meet the expectations of the people of Bihar, who gave the mandate based on the development work done by Modi and Nitish.
After his election as the legislature party leader, Samrat expressed gratitude to the BJP central leadership in a post on social media platform X and said: “This is not just a post for me, but a pious opportunity to serve the public of Bihar and make their trust and dreams come true. I resolve to meet their expectations with full determination and honesty.”
What led to Samrat’s selection as the next chief minister
Several factors led to the election of the 57-year-old Samrat as the NDA chief ministerial candidate. Samrat fits the equation in Bihar’s caste-dominated politics. He hails from the Koeri (Kushwaha) caste, which constitutes around 4.21 percent of 13.07 crore population of the state. Nitish hails from the Kurmi caste, which is around 2.87 percent of the population.
The Kurmi and Kushwaha castes trace their origin to Lord Ram’s sons Luv and Kush, respectively. Both are closely knit and have a tradition of voting en bloc in elections; they have been loyal to Nitish for the past two decades.
“Nitish’s decision to quit as the chief minister had left the Kurmi and Kushwaha castes perturbed about their political future. They could have scattered and gone towards different parties, but with Samrat at the helm, there will be no such danger. Moreover, the BJP’s vote bank in the state will increase by over seven percent without much effort,” a senior BJP leader told ETV Bharat.
Samrat, son of socialist stalwart leader and former Bihar minister Shakuni Choudhary, was also Nitish’s choice as his successor. He continuously rooted for him in public over the past month, and asserted that he would take care of the state in future. The BJP did not want to annoy or antagonise him (Nitish) at this juncture, preferring a smooth transfer of power.
Moreover, the towering, over six-feet-tall leader that he is, Samrat has worked hard for the BJP ever since he joined the party. He is also a sharp critic of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad and his family, due to political animosity and bitterness that turned personal.
In his speeches, Samrat has always supported the anti – foreign infiltrator ideology and hardline stands of the BJP on various issues.
