<p>Bihar's longest serving chief minister Nitish Kumar took oath as a Rajya Sabha member on Friday. </p><p>The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha chairman C P Radhakrishnan in his chamber at a brief ceremony in the presence of Union Minister J P Nadda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal among others.</p><p>As Kumar assumes the Rajya Sabha role, it marks the end of his rule in Bihar. The NDA is likely to elect a new chief minister of Bihar on April 14.</p><p>Several names are doing the rounds for the top post after Nitish Kumar's departure from the state assembly. Let's take a look at the possible CM faces in Bihar. </p><p><strong>1. Samrat Chaudhary</strong></p><p>Bihar deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary, who is seen as the front-runner among those in the race for the top job, has experienced a meteoric rise since he joined the BJP less than a decade ago.</p>.Bihar assembly receives another bomb threat, search underway.<p>Hailing from the Koeri caste, an influential OBC group which both the BJP and the main opposition party RJD have been trying to woo with equal intensity, Choudhary was made the state party president in 2023 and became the Deputy CM a year later, when the NDA was back in power following the JD(U) supremo's return to the coalition.</p><p><strong>2. Dilip Jaiswal</strong></p><p>Senior BJP leader Dilip Kumar Jaiswal who is currently the Minister of Industries and Road Construction in Bihar is another likely face for the CM post. </p><p><strong>3. Nityanand Rai</strong></p><p>Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai is a senior BJP leader and is said to have a strong hold among OBCs and backward classes in Bihar, making him another contender for the CM post. </p><p>Rai, a former state BJP president, is understood to be a favourite of Shah, by virtue of having been the Union Minister of State for Home.</p><p><strong>4. Sanjeev Chaurasiya</strong></p><p>Sanjeev Chaurasia is another prominent BJP figure with a strong presence within the Brahmin community.</p><p>A part of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) community, Chaurasiya fits the caste equations of the state in the backdrop of the caste census. </p><p><strong>5. Prem Kumar</strong></p><p>Like Chaurasiya, Bihar Legislative Assembly speaker Prem Kumar too belongs to the EBC community. Prem Kumar, however, is perceived as an educated leader, tipping the scales in his favour.</p><p>Party sources also concede that while the new CM will be announced at a meeting of the legislative party, whenever it is held, the person occupying the seat of power will be "handpicked by the powers that be in Delhi".</p><p>They cite the example of Rajasthan, where a first-term MLA was made the CM, after a Union minister was rumoured to have flown down to Jaipur carrying a small piece of paper with the name inscribed.</p><p>Meanwhile, JD(U) sources assert that they will insist on "a fair share" in the new cabinet, and the supremo's son Nishant Kumar, who joined the party only recently, was likely to be pushed for the Deputy CM's post.</p>
<p>Bihar's longest serving chief minister Nitish Kumar took oath as a Rajya Sabha member on Friday. </p><p>The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha chairman C P Radhakrishnan in his chamber at a brief ceremony in the presence of Union Minister J P Nadda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal among others.</p><p>As Kumar assumes the Rajya Sabha role, it marks the end of his rule in Bihar. The NDA is likely to elect a new chief minister of Bihar on April 14.</p><p>Several names are doing the rounds for the top post after Nitish Kumar's departure from the state assembly. Let's take a look at the possible CM faces in Bihar. </p><p><strong>1. Samrat Chaudhary</strong></p><p>Bihar deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary, who is seen as the front-runner among those in the race for the top job, has experienced a meteoric rise since he joined the BJP less than a decade ago.</p>.Bihar assembly receives another bomb threat, search underway.<p>Hailing from the Koeri caste, an influential OBC group which both the BJP and the main opposition party RJD have been trying to woo with equal intensity, Choudhary was made the state party president in 2023 and became the Deputy CM a year later, when the NDA was back in power following the JD(U) supremo's return to the coalition.</p><p><strong>2. Dilip Jaiswal</strong></p><p>Senior BJP leader Dilip Kumar Jaiswal who is currently the Minister of Industries and Road Construction in Bihar is another likely face for the CM post. </p><p><strong>3. Nityanand Rai</strong></p><p>Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai is a senior BJP leader and is said to have a strong hold among OBCs and backward classes in Bihar, making him another contender for the CM post. </p><p>Rai, a former state BJP president, is understood to be a favourite of Shah, by virtue of having been the Union Minister of State for Home.</p><p><strong>4. Sanjeev Chaurasiya</strong></p><p>Sanjeev Chaurasia is another prominent BJP figure with a strong presence within the Brahmin community.</p><p>A part of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) community, Chaurasiya fits the caste equations of the state in the backdrop of the caste census. </p><p><strong>5. Prem Kumar</strong></p><p>Like Chaurasiya, Bihar Legislative Assembly speaker Prem Kumar too belongs to the EBC community. Prem Kumar, however, is perceived as an educated leader, tipping the scales in his favour.</p><p>Party sources also concede that while the new CM will be announced at a meeting of the legislative party, whenever it is held, the person occupying the seat of power will be "handpicked by the powers that be in Delhi".</p><p>They cite the example of Rajasthan, where a first-term MLA was made the CM, after a Union minister was rumoured to have flown down to Jaipur carrying a small piece of paper with the name inscribed.</p><p>Meanwhile, JD(U) sources assert that they will insist on "a fair share" in the new cabinet, and the supremo's son Nishant Kumar, who joined the party only recently, was likely to be pushed for the Deputy CM's post.</p>
