Samrat Choudhary replaces Nitish Kumar, elected BJP's first Bihar CM

Samrat Choudhary, who has been the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar since January 2024, will now become the new Chief Minister of Bihar. This is the first time that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get a Chief Minister in the state.

Choudhary will replace Nitish Kumar, the longest-serving CM of Bihar. Kumar has taken the oath as the CM 10 times since his short stint in 2000. He resigned from the post on Tuesday, April 14, by submitting his resignation to Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) at Lok Bhavan in Patna.

What's next for Nitish Kumar?

Nitish Kumar, the 75-year-old JD(U) chief, became a Rajya Sabha MP last week. He got elected to the Upper House of Parliament on March 16.

As a Rajya Saba MP, Nitish Kumar will enjoy Z-Plus security cover, news agency PTI reported, citing a notification issued by the state home department earlier in April.

Kumar had resigned as a member of the Bihar Legislative Council (MLC) on March 30, as he prepared to assume office in the Rajya Sabha after being elected earlier this month.

Nitish Kumar was also unanimously re-elected as President of the Janata Dal (United) after no other candidate filed a nomination for the post.

Reacting to the development, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha had said, “It is his own decision. It is the constitutional arrangement that he will have to resign from one place if he is taking an oath at another...”

On March 5, Kumar penned a heartfelt message, expressing his longing desire to be a member of both houses of the Bihar Legislature as well as the Houses of Parliament. He asserted his commitment to building a "developed Bihar" and extended his "cooperation and guidance" to the new government.

Now, speculations are rife on whether Nitish Kumar's son Nishant will be given a cabinet berth in the state assembly. Nishant recently joined politics, marking an unprecedented shift in Bihar politics.

Nishant joined the JD(U) on March 8, following in his father's footsteps. While Nitish Kumar has had an anti-dynastic politics stand, Nishant's entry into the party came amid the former Bihar CM moving to the Rajya Sabha.

Who is Samrat Choudhary?

Samrat Choudhary, a BJP leader, was appointed Bihar Deputy Chief Minister in January 2024. He fought the 2025 Bihar Assembly Election from the Tarapur constituency.

Samrat's father, Shakuni Chaudhary, was a six-time MLA from Tarapur, while his mother Parvati Devi also served as a legislator.

After years in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samrat Choudhary joined the JD(U) in 2014 and served as a minister in the government headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi.

Samrat joined the BJP in 2017. In the BJP, he held organisational roles such as state vice-president.

He became the BJP's Bihar unit chief in 2023. In January 2024, he was appointed the deputy chief minister in the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar.

Samrat is a prominent OBC face in Bihar. As a key strategist and campaigner, Samrat has been central to the BJP's outreach and organisational expansion.