Samrat Choudhary becomes Bihar’s first BJP CM after Nitish Kumar resigns

Bihar got its first Chief Minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party, with Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary elected as the BJP legislature party leader on Tuesday.

The development follows the resignation of Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) supremo, who stepped down as Chief Minister earlier in the day after recently becoming a Rajya Sabha MP. "I have done a lot of work for the people of Bihar. Recently, I decided to leave the post of chief minister…and therefore, after today's cabinet meeting, I met the governor and submitted my resignation to him," Kumar said.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, appointed as the central observer for the leadership election, said Choudhary was unanimously chosen as the BJP legislature party leader. The BJP is currently the single largest party in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, with 89 MLAs.

Choudhary expressed gratitude to the central leadership of the BJP for entrusting him with the responsibility of Leader of the BJP’s legislature party in Bihar. “For me, this is not merely a position, but an opportunity to serve the people of Bihar and to fulfil their trust and aspirations. I resolve to live up to the expectations of every citizen with complete dedication, commitment, and integrity,” he said in a post on X.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the guidance of our national president Nitin Nabin Jee, I will continuously strive to take Bihar to new heights of development, good governance, and prosperity,” he wrote.

Choudhary joined the BJP in 2017 after spending around 12 years in the RJD and JD(U). The BJP MLA from Tarapur will now be elected the leader of the NDA legislature party.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar said that the new government will look after "the work in Bihar. The new government will have my full cooperation and guidance," Kumar wrote on the social media post.