From lantern to lotus: Samrat Choudhary's rise to Bihar CM post

One who served under three CMs before becoming BJP's first CM in Bihar

Patna: No party should complain, at least for the time being, about the new Chief Minister of Bihar Samrat Choudhary, who will take oath as the CM on Wednesday.

Reason: He started his career with the RJD, shifted his allegiance from Lalu to Nitish before joining the JD (U). Later, he was with Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), a pocket organisation run by Union Minister and former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi. In fact, many people will remember that he was the Urban Development Minister in the short-lived Manjhi Government in 2014-15 before joining the BJP in 2018 and eventually becoming the Bihar BJP president in 2023 and then the deputy CM in 2024.

During his first stint as Nitish’s deputy, Samrat served as Bihar’s finance minister, while after winning a landslide in November 2025, Samrat again became Nitish’s deputy, but this time he handled the Home portfolio, a department which had so far stayed with CM Nitish since 2005. This provided the clearest evidence about the things which were likely to shape up in the days to come.

Nitish's trusted aide

As Nitish’s health deteriorated, it was Samrat who became Nitish’s shadow – from giving a helping hand to the CM (at every public meeting) to handling an aggressive media, it was Samrat who turned Nitish’s 'Man Friday'.

Samrat’s road to success, however, was not a smooth one. He had his own set of controversies as well. He faced charges of being underage and was removed as a minister in the Rabri Devi Government in 1999.

Prior to the Bihar Assembly election in November 2025, he was accused by Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor of being enlarged on bail through fake documents in a murder case in Munger. However, Samrat laughed at Kishor’s allegations. “The man, who has never contested an election, is making allegations against me hoping against hope that if he levels charges against Bihar’s Deputy CM, he would get national media attention. I give a damn to such allegations,” said Samrat, who, before becoming BJP’s first Chief Minister, has already served under three CMs: Rabri Devi, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Nitish Kumar.

Political family

Born in a political family where his father Shakuni Choudhary won seven times as MLA and MP, and mother Parvati Devi was an MLA from Tarapur, Samrat has won the Assembly elections thrice: twice from Parbatta in Khagaria (2000 and 2010) and once from Tarapur in Munger (2025), and lost twice: 2005 and 2015.

He remains in the good books of Nitish for two reasons: One, his administrative ability and secondly, for being a leader of the Koeri commnity, a caste similar to Nitish’s Kurmi.

In Bihar, Kurmi and Koeri are treated as Luv-Kush, the twins of mythological Lord Rama-Sita. In the corridors of power too, Nitish and Samrat always struck a similar chord.