Samrat Choudhary was sworn in earlier in the day as the 24th Chief Minister of Bihar, the first time a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has assumed the state’s top post.
He was sworn in by Governor Syed Ata Hasnain at the Lok Bhawan in the presence of several dignitaries, including JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who resigned as chief minister a day earlier, Union minister and former BJP president JP Naddy and Chirag Paswan, chief of the LJP (RV), the third largest ally in the NDAhar.
JD(U) leaders Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary were appointed deputy chief ministers in the Choudhary-led government on Wednesday.
For now, CM Samrat has retained nearly 30 portfolios including key departments like Home, Vigilance, Agriculture, Tourism, Revenue and Land Reforms, Health, Labor Resources and Migrant Workers Welfare, Disaster Management, Panchayati Raj and Industries.
In the notice, Samrat is said to hold 29 portfolios, apart from “all other such departments which have not been allotted to anyone else”.
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Chaudhary has been given 10 departments, including water resources, minority welfare, education, higher education, transport and rural development. Deputy CM Bijendra Prasad Yadav has 8 departments including power and finance.
PM Modi, Nitish, Tejashwi congratulate Samrat Choudhary
Congratulating Samrat Choudhary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his energy, dedication to public service and local experience would greatly benefit the state.
“We heartily congratulate and wish Shri Samrat Choudhary all the best on his swearing-in as the Chief Minister of Bihar! His energy, dedication to public service and local experience will prove extremely beneficial to the state. I am fully confident that under his able leadership and fulfilling the aspirations of the people, Bihar will touch new heights of all-round development in APM,” Modi said.
Nitish Kumar, now a Rajya Sabha MP, came to X to congratulate Choudhary and expressed confidence that “under your leadership, Bihar will develop rapidly and join the ranks of the most developed states in the country”.
Along with NDA leaders, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav also conveyed his wishes to Choudhary, albeit with a touch of sarcasm.
“Congratulations to Samrat Chaudhary ji for fulfilling his promise to remove the ‘chosen’ Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ji from power today and we wish him all the best to become the ‘chosen’ Chief Minister,” X said in the post.
He noted that Choudhary must be aware of the “bitter, unpleasant and harsh” reality that even after 21 years of NDA rule, “Bihar remains well below the national average on most NITI Aayog benchmarks.
