BJP Appoints Samrat Choudhary As Bihar Party President Ahead Of 2024 Poll — Know All About Him

Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary has been appointed as Bihar BJP President replacing Sanjay Jaiswal whose term ended in November last year

New Delhi: The momentum for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls has started picking up and is evident as the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed its new party president in Bihar. Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary has been given party’s responsibility in the state replacing Sanjay Jaiswal whose term ended in November last year. 

The party gave the information in a letter issued today.

Before joining BJP in 2018, Chowdhary was a member of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United). 

The Bihar MLC has also served as Panchayati Raj Minister in the expanded cabinet of the Nitish government from BJP quota in 2021. He has also served as Minister for Urban Development and Housing, Health in 2014 in Jitan Ram Manjhi Ministry and Minister of Metrology and Horticulture in 1999 in Rabri Devi Ministry.

BJP Eyes OBC Vote Bank

With Choudhary's appointment, the BJP is trying to bank on OBC vote bank in the state as the new state party chief belongs to the politically important Kushwaha community, which constitutes around 8 per cent of Bihar’s population. 

Choudhary entered active politics in 1990, and on May 19, 1999, he was sworn in as the Minister of Agriculture in the Bihar government. He contested from Parbatta (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in 2000 and 2010 and was elected MLA. 

Choudhary inherited politics from his father, Shakuni Chowdhary, who was a six-time MLA and once a Member of Parliament. 

Tenure As Panchayati Raj Minister 

The Bihar MLC's tenure as Panchayati Raj Minister involved a mix of controversies and developmental steps. 

In March 2021, he gained nationwide attention for getting embroiled in a strong argument with the speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha. The speaker was seeking his reply, to a question that arose by an MLA, regarding the working of his department. Later, he apologized to the speaker for the violation of the decorum of the house. 

The Panchayati Raj Ministry under him took several steps for promoting better organisational structure like recruitment of more staff in the sanitation department as well as paving the way for the safe disposal of dead carcasses of stray animals.