Samrat Choudhary to be first BJP chief minister of Bihar as Nitish Kumar era ends

Senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, who had worn a saffron turban for nearly two years as a symbol of his resolve to unseat then-rival Nitish Kumar, was on Tuesday unanimously elected leader of the NDA legislature party and is set to become the chief minister of Bihar.

Ironically, Choudhary's name was proposed at the NDA meeting by outgoing chief minister Nitish, who submitted his resignation earlier in the day to the governor, days after taking oath as a Rajya Sabha member.

The development cleared the way for the BJP to realise its long-held ambition of installing its own chief minister in the Mandal-heartland state, after playing second fiddle to Nitish's JDU for over two decades.

The development also marked the end of Nitish’s tenure as Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister (2005-2026, barring a brief interlude), a period marked by his repeated political flip-flops to hold on to the chair.

Choudhary, 57, is set to be sworn in on Wednesday at a low-key event at Lok Bhavan. He was earlier elected leader of the BJP legislature party before being endorsed by the NDA.

He was one of the two deputy chief ministers in the Nitish government and also held the important home portfolio.

His rise underscores a familiar trend within the BJP, where leaders who have switched parties have risen to prominence, often ahead of long-time ideological loyalists.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congress leader, is among the most prominent examples. The son of former minister Shakuni Choudhary, who had associations across parties, Samrat Choudhary began his political career with the RJD in 1990.