End of an era: Samrat Choudhary takes oath as Bihar Chief Minister; BJP leads state for first time | WATCH
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "End of an era: Samrat Choudhary takes oath as Bihar Chief Minister; BJP leads state for first time | WATCH")
Former CM Nitish Kumar with newly sworn-in Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary Photograph: (ANI)
Samrat Choudhary sworn in as Bihar Chief Minister. With Nitish Kumar stepping aside, the state gets its first BJP-led government at the top.
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Patna, Bihar: Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday (Apr 15) took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar, marking a major political shift in the state’s leadership. With the swearing-in, Choudhary becomes the first leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party to hold the chief minister’s post in Bihar. The development follows the resignation of Nitish Kumar, who stepped down earlier as he moves to the Rajya Sabha after serving 10 terms spanning nearly two decades at the helm.
Bihar and ‘new heights of development’: Watch swearing in HERE
Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain administered the oath of office to Choudhary, 57, at Lok Bhavan in Patna. The ceremony drew senior NDA figures, including Union Minister Chirag Paswan, who met Choudhary before the swearing-in and posted a congratulatory message on X, expressing confidence that Bihar would "reach new heights of development, good governance, and prosperity" under his leadership.
Watch video here:
Who is Samrat Choudhary?
Choudhary began his career in the 1990s with the Rashtriya Janata Dal before switching to the BJP in 2018. Before the BJP-JDU alliance was renewed in 2024, he was among Nitish Kumar's most vocal critics, at one point vowing publicly in 2022 that he would not remove his signature saffron turban until Kumar was removed from power. He was appointed BJP state president in 2023 and became Deputy Chief Minister in 2024.
Politics runs in the family. His father, Shakuni Choudhary, won the Tarapur constituency six consecutive times. His mother, Parvati Devi, won the same seat in 1998 on a Samta Party ticket.
Choudhary has a strong base within Bihar's OBC communities, particularly the Koeri and Kushwaha groups, and his appointment is seen as part of the BJP's broader effort to consolidate its support among backward communities ahead of future electoral contests.
