Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Wednesday, April 15. He replaced Janata Dal (United)’s Nitish Kumar, the state’s longest-serving premier. The oath-taking ceremony took place at Lok Bhavan in Patna at 11 AM.
BJP picks new legislature leader; Choudhary moves to form government in Bihar
After being elected as the BJP legislature party leader on Tuesday, Choudhary met Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain to assert his claim to form a new government, accompanied by several NDA leaders. He was elected shortly after Nitish Kumar, who recently became a Rajya Sabha MP, tendered his resignation to the Governor. He will be the first BJP leader to assume the top position in the state.
Who will attend Choudhary’s oath-taking ceremony?
Several senior BJP leaders are expected to attend Choudhary and his ministers’ oath-taking ceremony. Bihar Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar will also be present at the event. Meanwhile, Vijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Chaudhary are likely to be sworn in as deputy chief ministers, according to media reports.
Choudhary expresses commitment to fulfill new duties
After being unanimously elected as leader during the NDA legislature Party meeting, Choudhary expressed his commitment to assume the new role with utmost integrity and fulfill his new duties as the Chief Minister of Bihar. While speaking to the media, he said that it is an opportunity to serve the people and to realize their trust and dreams.
Who is Samrat Choudhary?
Born in 1968 in Bihar’s Munger district, BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, an MLA from Tarapur, has a significant political pedigree. His father, Shakuni, had served as a six-time MLA from the Tarapur seat. Meanwhile, his mother also won the same constituency in 1998 for the now-defunct Samta Party. Choudhary reclaimed the family bastion after winning the 2025 election.
The 57-year-old BJP leader made his political debut in 1990. He became Bihar’s Agriculture Minister in 1999 when Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife, Rabri Devi, led the government. In the 2000 and 2010 polls, he won the Parbatta seat. Furthermore, when the BJP was in the opposition in 2010, Choudhary became the Chief Whip.
Originally associated with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JDU, Samrat Choudhary tried engineering a split in 2014, bringing along more than a dozen MLAs with him before formally joining the BJP. He then also served as the party’s Bihar unit chief from 2023 to 2024, and as the state’s Sports, Finance, Panchayat Raj, and Urban Development as well as Housing minister.
