BJP's Samrat Choudhary Named New Bihar Chief Minister, Oath Likely Tomorrow

It's official. Samrat Choudhary is the new Bihar Chief Minister, becoming the first BJP leader to occupy the top post in the state. The oath ceremony is likely tomorrow and will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said sources.

The BJP has Chief Ministers in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana - across most Hindi heartland states, Bihar was the notable exception. That changed today.

"Samrat Chaudhary was unanimously elected as the BJP's legislature party leader," Union Minister Shivraj Chouhan, whom the BJP parliamentary board named central observer, declared. 

Soon after the official declaration, Nitish Kumar garlanded Samrat Chaudhary, who sought his outgoing boss's blessings.

When Choudhary began to remove the garland, Nitish told him to keep it on.

As the MLAs remained seated, Nitish instructed them to stand up and applaud the new leader.

Earlier today, Nitish Kumar, who is now a Rajya Sabha member, resigned as Chief Minister.

"Now the new government will look after the work in Bihar. The new government will have my full cooperation and guidance," Kumar, Bihar's longest serving Chief Minister, posted on X. 

The 57-year-old Choudhary, who was Nitish Kumar's deputy, belongs to the Koeri, or Kushwaha caste, a prominent other backward class (OBC) community that accounts for roughly 6-7 per cent of Bihar's population. Among the backward castes, the Kushwaha community is the largest after the Yadavs. According to sources, the Nitish Kumar's JD(U) had asked the BJP to appoint a Chief Minister from this very caste group.

Choudhary, who entered active politics in 1990, has pulled many a political switcheroo - from Lalu Yadav's RJD to Nitish's JDU to finally joining the BJP in 2017.

After joining the BJP, Choudhary emerged as one of the sharpest critics of Nitish Kumar. In 2022, he publicly vowed not to remove his trademark saffron turban until he unseated Kumar.

However, things changed after JDU reunited with the BJP in 2024.

During the 2025 state polls, the JDU returned to power and Samrat Choudhary was named the Deputy Chief Minister.

Choudhary was always the frontrunner for the top post, with now-outgoing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dropping hints all along.

During his Samriddhi Yatra across the state, Nitish Kumar, 75, placed his hands on Samrat Choudhary's shoulder and urged people to show support for him.

The BJP has been the junior partner in state since 2005, barring a few years in between, but had to wait until today to have its own leader in the top post. 

Nitish Kumar's party has 85 MLAs in the 243-members Assembly, just four less than the BJP's tally.