In the Indian state of Bihar, which borders Nepal,  Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has resigned from his post.  Now, Samrat Chaudhary of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the NDA alliance will take oath as the Chief Minister on Wednesday. Nitish Kumar, who became the Chief Minister from the NDA alliance, had announced his candidacy for the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India, on March 30 by giving it to the Bihar Legislative Council (MLC). Chaudhary was the Deputy Chief Minister in his government. 

Nitish, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha on March 16, took oath on April 11. In India, there is a provision that a person who takes the oath as a Rajya Sabha member must leave the post of Chief Minister within 14 days.

After the resignation of Janata Dal United (JDU) President Nitish Kumar, the way has now been opened for the formation of a government by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar. The BJP is the largest party in the ruling NDA alliance with 88 seats. Samrat Chaudhary was elected as the leader of the parliamentary party in the BJP on Tuesday. 

57-year-old Chaudhary was elected to the assembly from Tarapur. Even before Niti Kumar's resignation, he was being discussed as the future Chief Minister.

At the BJP parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, another Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha, senior BJP Bihar leaders Mangal Pandey, Dilip Jaiswal and Renu Devi proposed him as the leader of the parliamentary party. This proposal was also supported by  BJP's central representative and federal minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. 

Chaudhary, an Other Backward Classes (OBC) member, has been active in politics since 1990. He has held important ministries in the state like Finance, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj as Deputy Chief Minister since 2024. He was once a big critic of Nitish Kumar.

But over time, he has emerged as a reliable ally in Bihar's changing coalitions. Chaudhary has a long political legacy. His father Sakuni Chaudhary was elected to the assembly from Tarapur six times. His mother Parvati Devi was also active in politics. 

Image of good governance, accusations of opportunism

Nitish first became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 2000. After a short tenure as Chief Minister, he became a federal minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. As the Railway Minister, he made major improvements in the Indian Railways.

After becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar for the second time in 2005, Nitish made a name for himself as the 'Father of Good Governance'. He established the rule of law in Bihar, which was lagging behind in terms of development. He significantly developed infrastructure including roads, bridges and brought about radical changes in the education sector.

As the Chief Minister, he appointed more than one lakh teachers. He created an environment for doctors to work in primary health centers and made many villages prosperous. He built new roads, significantly improved female literacy. Overall, he doubled the average income of Biharis.

But he was also accused of being an opportunist due to his repeated changes in the caste system to stay in power. He sometimes formed a grand alliance with the Janata Dal United (JDU), RJD, Congress and Left parties to come to power. Sometimes he contested the elections together with the BJP.

In the last election held last year, the NDA coalition campaigned for him as the Chief Minister. In this election, the NDA won 201 seats out of 243. The main component of the alliance, the BJP, won 88 and Niti Kumar's JDU won 85 seats. 

On 20 November 2025, he was elected the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 10th time in a record time. He is a Chief Minister whose party has never won an absolute majority, but he has led the state government continuously except for 8 months after 2005.