Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. | Photo credit: ANI
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who is the top prospect among BJP leaders vying to succeed Nitish Kumar as the state’s chief minister, is scheduled to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in poll-bound West Bengal on Sunday (March 8, 2026), according to party sources. The two leaders are likely to address a joint public meeting in Bagdogra, which is seen as an exercise to boost Mr. Choudhary’s political personality.
On March 6, Mr. Kumar filed nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for March 16. His imminent departure from Patna caused consternation even in the opposition. Former chief minister and Rahtriya Janata Dal leader Rabri Devi on Saturday (March 7, 2026) claimed that “Nitish Kumar is being forced out of Bihar by the BJP…this is not his voluntary retirement,” adding that Mr Kumar “should not leave Bihar”.
Changes are also underway within Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal (United). His son Nishant Kumar, 50, who plans to formally join the JD(U) on Sunday (March 8, 2026), met party legislators at the residence of labor party president Sanjay Kumar Jha in Patna on Saturday (March 7, 2026). The younger Mr. Kumar is said to have discussed party matters and the ground realities of politics with them. The JD(U) MLAs briefed him on the issues he asked and welcomed him into the party to take it to new political heights.
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Nitish’s choice
While Nishant Kumar is likely to become one of the new Deputy CMs of the state, the current Deputy CM Mr. Choudhary, 57, is said to be Nitish Kumar’s choice for the CM post. Mr Choudhary belongs to the Koeri or Kushwaha caste, a prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) community in Bihar. After the Yadavs, the Kushwahs form the second largest voting bloc among the OBC castes in the state and have close ties with Nitish Kumar’s Kurmi community.
Mr. Choudhary is scheduled to meet Mr. Shah in Bagdogra, which lies in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, which borders Bihar’s Kishanganj district. Bagdogra Airport also serves the border areas of Bihar and West Bengal.
BJP contenders
There are several other BJP leaders who are reportedly in the running for the CM post. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai is said to be close to Mr. Shah, who had earlier called him his friend. Hailing from the dominant OBC Yadav caste, Mr Rai is seen as capable of disrupting the opposition RJD’s key vote bank.
Another contender is Digha MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia, whose father Ganga Prasad Chaurasia was one of the founders of the BJP in Bihar and a former governor of Sikkim.
Other names doing the rounds in political circles include Janak Ram, Bihar’s Minister for SC/ST Welfare, who belongs to the Extremely Backward Class (EBC), Dalit community in Gopalganj; Bihar Industries Minister Dilip Jaiswal, former BJP state president who belongs to the Vaishya community and hails from the border district of Kishanganj; Parihar MLA Gayatri Devi, who is a Yadav; and upper caste leaders Nitish Mishra and Mangal Pandey.
Published – 07 March 2026 21:05 IST
