BJP's Samrat Choudhary set to be sworn in as Bihar chief minister

Nitesh Kumar stepped down on as Bihar Chief Minister on Tuesday paving for BJP leader Samrat Choudhary to be sworn in as chief minister. This will be the first time the party will lead a government in the state.

The 57-year-old leader is scheduled to be administered the oath of office at the Lok Bhawan here, in the presence of top leaders of the NDA, which comprises the BJP, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and three other parties.

Besides, the chief ministers of several states will attend the oath-taking ceremony.

Kumar, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP, relinquished the chief minister's post on Tuesday, dissolving his Cabinet in which Choudhary was a deputy chief minister and held the crucial home portfolio.

Choudhary, who joined the BJP in 2017, was named the legislative party leader on Tuesday in the presence of top functionaries like BJP chief Nitin Nabin and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whom the parliamentary board had named as "central observer" for the transition.

In a state where caste considerations are of paramount importance in politics, Choudhary happens to be only the second person from the influential Koeri caste to occupy the top post.

In 1968, Satish Prasad Singh enjoyed a barely five-day-long tenure as chief minister, until his coalition government fell as a result of the Congress withdrawing its support.

Choudhary also finds himself in the company of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, who was the only other leader to have been a deputy CM and chief minister.

However, unlike the quick elevation of Choudhary, it had been a two-year wait for Thakur, who became deputy chief minister in 1967 and remained in office for 11 months before becoming chief minister in 1970.