Bihar cabinet allocation: A look at portfolios of CM Samrat Choudhary, Deputy CMs Bijendra Prasad, Vijay Kumar

Samrat Choudhary was sworn in earlier in the day as the 24th Chief Minister of Bihar, marking the first time a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has assumed the state’s top post.

He was sworn in by Governor Syed Ata Hasnain at Lok Bhawan in the presence of several dignitaries, including JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who had stepped down as Chief Minister a day earlier, Union Minister and former BJP president JP Nadda, and Chirag Paswan, chief of the LJP (RV), the third-largest ally in Bihar’s ruling NDA.

JD(U) leaders Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary were appointed as deputy chief ministers in the Choudhary-led government on Wednesday.

For now, CM Samrat has retained nearly 30 portfolios, including key departments such as Home, Vigilance, Agriculture, Tourism, Revenue and Land Reforms, Health, Labour Resources and Migrant Workers Welfare, Disaster Management, Panchayati Raj, and Industries.

The notification mentioned Samrat holds 29 portfolios, apart from "all other such deprtments which have not been allocated to anybody else".

Meanwhile, deputy CM Vijay Kumar Chaudhary got 10 departments, including Water Resources, Minority Welfare, Education, Higher Education, Transport and Rural Development. Deputy CM Bijendra Prasad Yadav got 8 departments, including Energy and Finance.

PM Modi, Nitish, Tejashwi congratulate Samrat Choudhary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Samrat Choudhary, stating that his energy, commitment to public service, and grassroots experience would greatly benefit the state.

"Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Shri Samrat Choudhary on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar! His energy, dedication to public service, and grassroots experience will prove extremely beneficial for the state. I am fully confident that under his capable leadership, while fulfilling the aspirations of the people, Bihar will touch new heights of all-round development," PM Modi mentioned in a post on X in Hindi.

Nitish Kumar, now a Rajya Sabha MP, took to X to congratulate Choudhary and expressed confidence that “under your leadership, Bihar will develop rapidly and join the ranks of the most developed states in the country.”

Along with NDA leaders, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav also conveyed his wishes to Choudhary, though with a hint of sarcasm.

"Congratulations to Samrat Chaudhary ji on fulfilling his pledge today to remove the 'elected' chief minister Nitish Kumar ji from power, and heartfelt best wishes on becoming the 'selected' chief minister," he stated in an X post.

He remarked that Choudhary must be aware of the “bitter, unpleasant and harsh” reality that even after 21 years of NDA rule, “Bihar significantly remains below the national average on most NITI Aayog benchmarks.”