Patna, Apr 15 : BJP leader Samrat Choudhary was on Wednesday sworn in as the 24th Chief Minister of Bihar, in the first instance of a saffron party member making it to the top post in the state.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Syed Ata Hasnain at the Lok Bhawan, in presence of a host of dignitaries, including JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who had given up the CM’s post a day ago, Union minister and former BJP president J P Nadda and Chirag Paswan, who heads the LJP (RV), the third-largest constituent of the ruling NDA in Bihar.
Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, both from the JD(U), also took oath on the occasion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Samrat Choudhary and said his energy, dedication to public service and grassroots experience will prove extremely beneficial for 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,” Modi said in a post on X in Hindi.
The two JD(U) leaders are expected to be designated as deputy chief ministers, in what appears to be a flipping of power equations in the previous dispensation when Nitish Kumar was heading the government with Samrat Choudhary and another BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha serving as his deputies.
The change of guard in the state has been necessitated by Kumar, 75, becoming a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Samrat Choudhary has been in politics for nearly three decades though the 57-year-old leader joined the BJP only nine years ago.
“I will get down to work from today itself. Rest assured that the model of governance developed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ex-CM Nitish Kumar will be followed in Bihar,” Choudhary told reporters after the swearing in ceremony.
Both his would-be-deputies had begun their political career in the 1980s and were counted on by Nitish Kumar for their experience, competence and political loyalty.
They held key ministerial berths in the Nitish Kumar government and, additionally, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary had also been the assembly Speaker from 2015-2020.
After the oath-taking ceremony, the chief minister went to the secretariat where he held a meeting witn government officials, whom he briefed about priorities of his administration.
Later, Choudhary also visited the BJP office where he was felicitated by party workers.
Meanwhile, NDA sources said they were expecting a cabinet expansion at the earliest, since the current arrangement left no scope to ensure that different caste groups were represented.
The CM himself is a Koeri, a powerful OBC group, which is said to have played a key role in the BJP central leadership’s decision to back him for the top job.
Vijay Kumar Chaudhary is a Bhumihar, an upper caste group that is known to be inclined more towards the BJP than his own JD(U).
Bijendra Prasad Yadav belongs to the state’s most populous OBC group which has, however, been aligned with the RJD, the main party in opposition.
“At present, the cabinet has no Dalit and no woman. Representation of both is a must in the current political climate,” said a BJP leader.
A JD(U) leader hoped that the cabinet includes a Kurmi, the OBC group to which Nitish Kumar belongs, and a Muslim, in line with the party’s strategy of projecting a “secular” image.
