- Samrat Choudhary named new Bihar chief minister by unanimous BJP MLA support
- Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar CM to join Rajya Sabha after decades in office
- BJP holds largest bloc in Bihar assembly with 89 MLAs backing Choudhary
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Samrat Choudhary has been named as the new chief minister of Bihar. The confirmation came after BJP MLAs unanimously backed him for the top post, at the legislature party meeting called on Tuesday.
The development came hours after the resignation of Nitish Kumar, who had been the CM of Bihar for most of the last two decades. Nitish, the leader of BJP ally Janata Dal (United), will move to the national capital as he was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP last week.
Choudhary, 57, was supported for the chief ministerial position by the 89 MLAs of the BJP. The party remains the single-largest bloc in the 243-member Bihar assembly. “He was unanimously elected as the BJP's legislature party leader,” Union Minister Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whom the BJP parliamentary board named central observer for the legislature party leader's election, told reporters.
He is also expected to receive the support of 85 JD(U) MLAs, which will allow him to smoothly demonstrate his majority in the assembly.
ALSO READ: Nitish Kumar Resigns As Bihar CM; BJP To Lead State Government For First Time
In the legislative house, Chaudhary represents the Tarapur assembly seat, which was wrested by him in the 2025 assembly polls by a margin of over 45,000 votes.
He first became the state's deputy CM in January 2024, when Nitish had again severed ties with the Mahagathbandhan and returned to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
After the coalition's massive victory in the November 2025 polls, Chaudhary was allotted the home ministry. This was the first time in the history of BJP-JD(U) alliance that Nitish had ceded the crucial portfolio.
Notably, Chaudhary would become the first-ever BJP leader to take oath as the state's chief minister. So far, the saffron party has been in power in the state under the leadership of Nitish.
ALSO READ: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Takes Oath As Rajya Sabha Member
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