Who is Samrat Choudhary to become the new Chief Minister of Bihar and the first leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party to hold the top post?

New Delhi: Samrat Choudhary selected biharThe new chief minister became the first BJP leader to serve as the chief minister of the state. Nitish Kumar Resigned and moved to the Federal House. His elevation marks a landmark political transition in Bihar, where Nitish Kumar has been a dominant figure in local governance for more than two decades.Chaudhry was elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party in Bihar on Tuesday, paving the way for his ascension.After Samrat Choudhary was unanimously elected as the leader of the Bihar BJP Legislative Party, Bihar Minister Dilip Jaiswal said: “The NDA Legislative Party meeting will be held soon. Samrat Choudhary will formally announce in this meeting that he will be the chief minister.” Speculations about Samrat’s successor have intensified after Nitish Kumar was nominated by his party JD(U) as a member of the Lok Sabha and sworn in as a member of the upper house on April 10.Chaudhry, 57, has steadily risen in political prominence in Bihar and is seen as one of the BJP’s strongest organizational figures in the state. He currently serves as the Home Minister and plays a central role in the NDA government, often representing the BJP at major official and political events along with Nitish Kumar.Born into a political family, Chaudhry is the son of veteran leader Shakuni Chaudhry, a former soldier who became an influential politician in Bihar. Like his father, Samrat Chaudhry’s political journey crossed multiple party lines. Over the years, he has been working with people’s party and People’s Party (Manchester United) before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017, a move that gave a major boost to his career trajectory.

Samrat’s rise in the BJP

His rise has been meteoric since joining the BJP. In 2023, he was appointed as the party’s Bihar president, cementing his position as a key strategist and mass leader. He later became deputy chief minister and retained his post in the NDA government formed after the 2025 assembly elections, which he won in the Tarapur constituency in Munger district.

OBC faces

Chaudhry is also seen as an important OBC face of the BJP, representing the Koeri-Kushwaha community which has significant electoral clout in Bihar. His caste appeal, coupled with his aggressive political style, made him central to the BJP’s expansion strategy in the state.Chaudhry had been one of Nitish Kumar’s sharpest critics before the BJP and JD(U) renewed their alliance in 2024. In 2022, he publicly announced that he would not take off his saffron turban (popularly known as muretha in Bihar) until Nitish Kumar steps down.This symbolic commitment came to a dramatic end in July 2024, after the NDA alliance returned to power, when he visited Ayodhya, offered turban to Lord Rama, shaved his head and took a ritual bath in the Salyu river.In recent years, the BJP leadership has increasingly viewed Chaudhry as the party’s main face in Bihar. He remains at the forefront of the BJP’s outreach efforts during the 2025 assembly campaign, and his deployment in other politically important states, including West Bengal, has further reinforced the perception that the party is gearing up for him to assume a bigger leadership role.The appointment of Samrat Choudhary, now confirmed, takes over at a time of political transformation in Bihar, with the task of leading the BJP into a new era after Nitish Kumar’s long and decisive chapter.