Bihar to have first BJP-led govt as Nitish Kumar resigns

Nitish resigns; swearing-in of new regime will take place on April 15.

It’s official now. Samrat Choudhary will be the new Chief Minister of Bihar. He was formally elected leader of the BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) here on Tuesday after Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation to the Governor.

Samrat’s name was proposed at the BJPLP meeting by the outgoing Deputy CM Vijay Sinha and approved by all those attending the meeting in the presence of Central observer and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Later in the evening, Samrat went to the Lok Bhawan, met the Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain and staked his claim to form the Government, the first ever BJP-headed Government in Bihar which will also have members of the JD (U), LJP, HAM and the RLP, all NDA allies.

The swearing-in of the new CM, and possibly a small Cabinet, will take place at 11 am on April 15 at the Lok Bhawan.

Though there could be one Deputy CM from the JD (U) but chances of Nishant Kumar, son of Nitish, being sworn-in as Samrat’s Deputy is bleak.

Nitish resign

Nitish resigned as Chief Minister of Bihar after serving the State for around 20 years, on Tuesday. Before submitting his resignation to the Governor, Nitish held his last Cabinet meeting wherein he recommended the dissolution of his ministry.

“It was an emotional moment for all of us when Nitish ji said he was leaving for New Delhi but would continue to guide us and keep a watch on Bihar developments,” said the outgoing Agriculture Minister in Nitish’s Cabinet, Ram Kripal Yadav.

Nitish's resignation thus paved the way for formation of the first BJP-led Government in Bihar. Nitish, who has been Chief Minister of Bihar since November 2005 (barring a nine-month gap from May 2014 to Feb 2015 when Jitan Ram Manjhi was Bihar CM), was elected to the Rajya Sabha on March 16 and took oath as RS member last week.

What went in Samrat's favour

On Tuesday, when Nitish started in his car for his office to chair the last Cabinet meeting, he asked his Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary to accompany him in the same vehicle. This gave some indication that Samrat could be Nitish’s successor although different media houses ran stories about different possible successors. It was speculated that the “enemy within the BJP” were adamant on clipping Samrat’s wings and not allow him to become the Bihar CM.

“When Nitish came to know about it, he delayed his decision to resign from 11 am to 3 pm and put forth his demand that only Samrat, not Shreyasi Singh or anyone else, could replace him. This alarmed the BJP leadership who took no risk in annoying Nitish, who still commanded 85 MLAs in the Assembly, just four short of BJP’s 89 MLAs,” said a ruling party source, privy to the behind-the-scenes talks.

Nitish was last month itself briefed by the BJP top leadership that he could choose his successor. Samrat had worked with Nitish as his deputy for the last two years and won his confidence besides winning the trust of PM Modi and Amit Shah. Shah, during the November 2025 Bihar poll campaign, had even asked the voters to make him (Samrat) win, as he was “destined for a big post”.

Trust and Distrust

“Nitish always trusted Samrat. Besides, Nitish never trusted Shreyasi Singh, also in the CM race, as she was daughter of Nitish’s bete noire late Digvijay Singh, with whom Nitish had a running feud since Samata Party days and it worsened when Nitish became Railway Minister while Digvijay became MoS, Railways, in the Vajpayee Government,” explained the party insider.