Meet Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Nitish Kumar's likely deputy CMs in Bihar

BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad said "most certainly" Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha will be party's choice for post of deputy chief ministers of Bihar.

Published on: Jan 28, 2024, 13:54:38 IST

By HT News Desk

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The new Bihar government under chief minister Nitish Kumar is likely to have two deputy chief ministers – Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said news agency ANI reported citing sources. Samrat Choudhary was on Sunday elected the leader of the BJP legislative party in Bihar, while Vijay Kumar Sinha was elected its deputy leader.

Samrat Choudhary (right) and Vijay Kumar Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party,

"In the legislative party meeting held today, BJP MLAs approved the proposal to form an NDA government in the state with JD(U)'s support. State BJP president Samrat Choudhary was elected leader of the legislative party and Vijay Sinha was elected deputy leader," the BJP's in-charge of Bihar Vinod Tawde said after JD(U) president Nitish Kumar resigned as chief minister.

Senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad told PTI-Video that "most certainly" Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha will be the party's choice for the post of deputy chief ministers. Follow Live Updates on Bihar politics

Other party leaders who are likely to be made ministers in the new government are Nitin Nabin, Shahnawaz Hussain, Rampreet Paswan, Neeraj Singh Babloo, besides Prasad, another BJP leader told the news agency.

Who is Samrat Choudhary?

Rakesh Kumar alias Samrat Choudhary was appointed as Bihar BJP chief last year.
Samrat Choudhary is currently a BJP MLC and leader of the party in the Legislative Council.
The BJP chose Samrat Choudhary to lead the party in Bihar to take the ruling Mahagathbandhan, consisting of Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar, RJD of Lalu Prasad/Tejashwi Yadav, Congress and Left parties.
Samrat Choudhary has been given command of the party in Bihar, a crucial state for the BJP, reportedly due to the closeness to Union home minister Amit Shah.
Samrat Choudhary had replaced Sanjay Jaiswal, who belongs to the Vaishya community, an other backward class or OBC.
Samrat Choudhary joined the BJP in 2018. His father, Shakuni Chaudhary, a former army man-turned-politician and well-known socialist leader, was a minister and former MP. He is considered close to the Nitish Kumar as well Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Before joining the BJP, Samrat Choudhary was with the RJD till 2014 and after that, he was with the JD(U).
Samrat Choudhary, an OBC leader belonging to the powerful koeri community, started wearing a saffron turban and a saffron gamcha.

Who is Vijay Kumar Sinha?

Vijay Kumar Sinha is leader of the opposition in the Bihar legislative assembly.
He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and an MLA from Lakhisarai constituency since 2010.
He was the Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 25 Nov 2020 to 24 August 2022, Vijay Sinha resigned from his post following a no-confidence motion moved against him by the current ruling Mahagathbandhan.[5]

After handing over the resignation letter as Bihar CM to the governor, Nitish Kumar staked a claim to form the new government in Bihar with his old ally BJP.

Samrat Choudhary said when a proposal came from Nitish Kumar's side to form a new government, the BJP supported it.

"It is an emotional moment for me that today I have been selected as the leader of the Legislative Assembly party. I thank PM Modi and everyone for this. The public support that we got in 2020 for the development of Bihar and to end the terror of Lalu Prasad has to be established again in the form of NDA. When Nitish Kumar's proposal came to the BJP, we decided to support it. We have resolved to win 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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