Samrat Choudhary | |
---|---|
8th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar | |
Assumed office 28 January 2024 Servingwith Vijay Kumar Sinha | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Tejashwi Yadav |
Leader of the Opposition Bihar Legislative Council | |
In office 24 August 2022 –20 August 2023 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Rabri Devi |
Succeeded by | Hari Sahni |
Minister of Panchayati Raj Government of Bihar | |
In office 9 February 2021 –9 August 2022 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Renu Devi |
Minister of Urban Development &Housing Government of Bihar | |
In office 2 June 2014 –20 February 2015 | |
Chief Minister | Jitan Ram Manjhi |
Minister of Agriculture Government of Bihar | |
In office 19 May 1999 –16 November 1999 | |
Chief Minister | Rabri Devi |
Member of Bihar Legislative Council | |
Assumed office 29 June 2020 | |
Constituency | elected by Legislative Assembly members |
In office 24 May 2014 –6 January 2016 | |
Constituency | Governor nominated |
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly | |
In office 2010–2014 | |
Preceded by | Ramanand Prasad Singh |
Succeeded by | Ramanand Prasad Singh |
Constituency | Parbatta |
In office 2000–2004 | |
Preceded by | Vidya Sagar Nishad |
Succeeded by | Ramanand Prasad Singh |
Constituency | Parbatta |
Finance minister of Bihar | |
Assumed office 28 January 2024 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Lakhanpur,Bihar,India | 16 November 1968
Political party | BJP |
Other political affiliations | |
Spouse | Mamta Kumari |
Children | 1 son &1 daughter |
Parent |
|
Occupation | Politician |
Samrat Choudhary (born 16 November 1968), also known by his alias Rakesh Kumar [1] is an Indian politician, who is currently serving as Deputy Chief minister of Bihar under Nitish Kumar. He is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been the party president of BJP Bihar State unit from March 2023 to 25 July 2024. He has also remained Member of Legislative Assembly and a minister in Government of Bihar in Rashtriya Janata Dal government. Chaudhary has been a former Vice President of BJP for the state of Bihar and currently elected for the second term as MLC in 2020 after his first term ended in 2019. [2] [3] [4] In 2014, Samrat planned a split in Rashtriya Janata Dal by defecting thirteen MLAs as splinter group of the party, later joining the BJP. [5] In 2022, he was selected as the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council. [6] In 2024, he was also made the convener of Group of Ministers on Goods and Service Tax rate rationalisation panel. [7]
Choudhary belongs to Koeri caste and he has been the OBC face of the BJP for a long time. [8] [9] [10] [11] He was born on 16 November 1968 in Lakhanpur village of Munger. His mother's name is Parvati Devi and father's name is Shakuni Choudhary. His ancestral village is in Lakhanpur in Tarapur block of Munger district. Samrat belongs to a family of politicians. His father, Shakuni Choudhary has been an MLA and MP seven times and mother Parvati Devi has been an MLA from Tarapur constituency. After completing his basic education, he received higher education from Madurai Kamaraj University. [12]
Chaudhary entered active politics in 1990 and on 19 May 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. [13] In 2010, he was made the Chief Whip of the opposition party in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. On 2 June 2014, he was sworn in and took charge as Minister of Urban Development and Housing Department in the Government of Bihar. In 2018, he was made the vice president of Bihar Pradesh in the Bharatiya Janata Party. [14] Before joining BJP he has remained associated with Rashtriya Janata Dal as well as Janata Dal (United). [15] In 2020 Bihar Assembly election he was made star campaigner of National Democratic Alliance, meanwhile he was embroiled in a controversy after giving a controversial statement on Lalu Prasad Yadav's caste equation. [16]
In 2021, Samrat was made Panchayati Raj minister in the expanded cabinet of Nitish Kumar from BJP quota. [17] 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. [15]
The tenure of Samrat Choudhary as Panchayati Raj minister was a blend of controversies and developmental steps taken by him under the jurisdictions of his ministry. In March 2021, he gained nationwide attention for getting embroiled in a strong argument with the speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha. The speaker was seeking his reply, on a question that was raised by an MLA, regarding working of his department. Later, he apologized to the speaker for 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 sanitation department as well as paving the way for safe disposal of dead carcasses of stray animals. The ministry under him also planned to seek the intra department supports of other ministerial departments. [18] [19]
He has been accused of charges related to undue influence or personation at an election and disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant. [20]
In March 2023, Chaudhary was appointed president of Bhartiya Janata Party for the state of Bihar, replacing Sanjay Jaiswal. As per the political analysts, the step was taken by party leadership in order to create strong foundation among the voters of Kushwaha or the koeri caste, which dominated many of the districts of Bihar and were recorded as second largest caste group after the Yadavs in state. [21] [22] After his appointment to the post of state chief of BJP, Rabri Devi commented, " it seems BJP has turned its back from the Banias and that's why they have raised a Mahto to the post of president." [23]
Chaudhary led BJP in Bihar after his appointment as party's state chief. Reportedly, he attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar verbally on various occasions; in May 2023, while he was trying to meet a former five time MLA of BJP Jawahar Prasad, who was incarcerated in prison for his role in Ram Navmi violence in Sasaram, he was stopped by authorities. On 3 May 2023, in a statement given to press, Chaudhary accused Nitish Kumar of promoting criminals and targeting saints; he cited the incident of release of former Member of Parliament and convicted criminal Anand Mohan Singh to support his claim. [24] In 2023, while speaking to a gathering of BJP political workers in Begusarai, union minister Giriraj Singh projected Chaudhary as the chief ministerial candidate of BJP for 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. [25] In July 2023, Chaudhary, along with Vijay Kumar Sinha and other BJP leaders organised a protest on the question of ten lakh jobs, that was promised by Grand Alliance government of Nitish Kumar and Tejaswi Yadav, to win the election. The protest was led by Chaudhary and Sinha along with BJP workers. However, when the mob reached Dak Bangla Square, Patna Police initiated lathi charge on BJP workers. A worker of BJP from Jahanabad died due to severe injuries, while many other leaders like Janardan Singh Sigriwal were also beaten. In the aftermath of protest, Chaudhary, in his statement, blamed the incumbent government of Nitish Kumar for the death of their worker. [26]
The BJP leaders were also protesting against the teacher recruitment policy of Nitish Kumar government, and the domicile issue. The government had allowed the candidate outside the state of Bihar to take the recruitment examination, hence, there was dissatisfaction in one section of local candidates from state. However, Chaudhary, along with all major state leaders of BJP were arrested during the protest. [27]
Chaudhary is also known for his outspoken nature. In May 2023, he alleged that Janata Dal United (JDU) president Lalan Singh has served liquor at a feast organised in his Lok Sabha constituency Munger, despite knowing that government of Bihar had imposed ban on liquor since 2016. For his remark, he was criticised by JDU leaders. The state president of JDU, Umesh Singh Kushwaha even passed a censure resolution against him, at a meeting of party. Kushwaha also commented that despite belonging to a political family, Chaudhary lacks decency required by a politician. [28] At various occasions, Chaudhary had also criticised Nitish Kumar for not promoting any Kushwaha or Kurmi leader, other than himself. He also alleged Kumar of using his peers for his own benefits. [29]
In March 2023, soon after Chaudhary became the head of state wing of BJP, posters were raised by a group of BJP political workers in Patna, equating Chaudhary to Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The senior BJP leaders like former deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad evaded direct comment on this comparison, when approached by media. On the other hand, JDU alleged BJP was avoiding latter's long time faithful party leaders and promoting someone, who was an outsider to party, sometimes before. [30]
Chaudhary continued to encircle Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav, both inside and outside of Bihar Legislative Assembly, in his new role as BJP state chief. He became vocal in asking for resignation of Tejaswi Yadav, after chargesheet was filed against Yadav in connection with 'Land For Job' scheme, a scheme in which appropriation of land from people was done, in lieu of giving them job, in the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Chaudhary was also engaged in 'politics of symbolism' ; he wore a turban on his head with the resolve to remove it on the day, Nitish Kumar leaves the premiership of the state of Bihar. [31]
In July 2024, he removed the turban after visiting Ayodhya and taking a dip in the Sarayu river. Chaudhary dedicated his turban lord Rama and announced that after Nitish Kumar joined BJP led coalition once against ditching the alliance led by Rashtriya Janata Dal, his vow to made him resign from the office of Chief Minister got completed. [32]
On 26 July 2024, Chaudhary was removed from the post of party's state president for Bihar. It was done after the extensive discussion within the party leadership after the 2024 Lok Sabha election, in which, it was concluded that he was unable to transfer the vote of Kushwaha caste to the Bharatiya Janata Party. With his removal, Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, party's member of legislative council of Bihar was appointed the new president of Bihar unit of BJP. Chaudhary, however, continued to serve as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. [33]
In January 2024, Chaudhary was made the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party's legislative party in Bihar. Vijay Kumar Sinha was subsequently made the deputy leader of BJP legislative party. This followed swearing in of Sinha and Chaudhary as Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar in the Nitish Kumar's 9th government formed in the state in 2024. [34] Several political analysts claimed that BJP could project Chaudhary as its Chief Minister face for the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. It was stipulated that any political consideration in the caste sensitive state like Bihar can only be made by keeping caste in centre stage. Following the caste based census conducted by Nitish Kumar in 2022, it was revealed that OBC and Extremely Backward Class comprised 60% of the population of the state and this revelation necessitated OBC centric politics in the state. Chaudhary was hence considered as a natural choice for the top leadership position of Bharatiya Janata Party, as he hailed from the caste which was part of troika of three agrarian castes, Yadav, Kurmi and Koeri, which historically led the anti-upper caste agitation in the state of Bihar. Following the displacement of upper caste from power circle, Yadav and Kurmis were able to run the state with Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar assuming the premiership, but, Kushwahas or Koeris left behind. Hence, it was assumed that Chaudhary being a Kushwaha was BJP's reply to Nitish Kumar's dominance in Bihar's politics. [35]
Soon after taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar alongside Vijay Kumar Sinha, Chaudhary was allocated several other departments in portfolio distribution of Nitish Kumar in February 2024. [36] He was allocated important departments of finance, health, commercial taxes, urban development and housing department, Sports, Panchayati Raj, Industry, Animal and Fisheries resources as well as planning. [37] [38]
On 13 February 2024, Chaudhary as Deputy CM as well as Finance Minister of Bihar, presented a budget worth ₹2.79 lakh crore in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. This was one of the biggest budget in the history of Bihar. Chaudhary also announced that the growth rate of state has achieved 10.64% mark and a total of 2.5 crore people in the state have risen above poverty level in preceding years. [39] As finance minister, he worked for creation of more jobs in the government sector as per NDA's poll promises. Chaudhary announced creation of 30,547 posts in various government departments after the administrative committee of finance ministry sanctioned the creation of these posts under him. [40]
Chaudhary holds the anti-immigrant ideology, which is promoted by BJP in frontier states of India. In June 2023, while addressing a rally at Purnia, Chaudhary promised to the audience that if the government of BJP is formed in the state of Bihar, they will drive all illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the Muslim dominated region of Bihar called Simanchal. [41] Chaudhary also believes in existence of the right wing conspiracy theory of Love Jihad, the process of Muslim men trapping Hindu girls, and converting them into Islam for marriage. In one of his media briefing, Chaudhary said that all the Love Jihad cases pending in Bihar will be probed, if BJP wins 2025 Bihar assembly elections. [42]
Chaudhary had supported the drive of Bihar government for conducting a caste census in the state and at an all India level. Amidst claims that Bharatiya Janata Party and its leaders are against caste census, Chaudhary declared in BJP's Other Backward Class convention at Khagaria in 2021 that he and his party is not against caste census and the BJP has always given representation to numerically small caste groups, which are vulnerable to be subsumed by the dominant castes. He also pointed towards the appointment of Renu Devi and Tarkishore Prasad as Deputy CM by BJP to support his arguments as both belonged to Backward Caste. [43] On 2 October 2023, after the Government of Bihar published the data of caste census, Chaudhary reiterated his statement and clarified that the release of data won't change the political standing and policies of the party as they have always worked towards proportional representation for all the castes. [44]
In June 2023, taking a dig at Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chaudhary compared latter's bearded look to Osama bin Laden. He said, "Rahul Gandhi grows beard like Osama bin Laden and thinks that he would become like prime minister Narendra Modi". [45]
Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a social-democratic and secularist Indian political party, rooted mainly in eastern and north-eastern India, whose stated goals are promoting social justice and lifting up marginalised people. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar, where it heads the government, Manipur, where it is part of the government coalition in the legislative assembly, and Arunachal Pradesh. JD(U), as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, won 12 seats in the 2024 Indian general election, making it the seventh largest party in the Lok Sabha.
Nitish Kumar is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest serving chief minister whilst also holding the post for his 9th term.
Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris and Muraos. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta, but beginning in the 20th century, they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present, it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status, who, over the time, started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi, Kachhwaha, Kushwaha, Mali, Marrar, Saini, Sonkar, Murai, Shakya, Maurya, Koeri and Panara.
The politics of Bihar, a state in east India, is dominated by regional political parties. As of 2021, the main political groups are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), Indian National Congress (INC), Left Front, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). There are also smaller regional parties: Samata Party, Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Jan Adhikar Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party. As of 2024, Bihar is currently ruled by NDA. This is after JDU broke away from a Mahagatbandhan coalition and returned to NDA fold.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in February 2000, to elect the 324 members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The Rashtriya Janata Dal won the most seats, but a short-lived government was formed by an alliance that included the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samata Party. The voter turnout in 2000 assembly polls was 62.6%.
The Koeri, also referred to as Kushwaha and more recently self-described as Maurya in several parts of northern India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According to Arvind Narayan Das they were horticulturists rather than agriculturists. They are also recorded as performing the work of Mahajan in credit market of rural parts of Bihar and Bengal in 1880s. Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation— as part of social resurgence. During the British rule in India, Koeris were described as "agriculturalists" along with Kurmis and other cultivating castes. They are described as a dominant caste in various opinions.
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party was a political party in India led by Upendra Kushwaha. It was launched on 3 March 2013 and was based in the state of Bihar. The party came into existence as a result of a feud between Nitish Kumar and Upendra Kushwaha, after which Kushwaha left The Nitish Kumar lead Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party. It has faced multiple rebellions and desertions since 2015. After the relations between Nitish and Kushwaha normalized, Upendra Kushwaha merged RLSP into JDU on 14 March 2021, with this, the party ceased to exist.
Upendra Kumar Singh, commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha is an Indian politician, and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. Kushwaha is a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district, Bihar, and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the leader of Rashtriya Samata Party (RSP), his own party, which merged into Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in 2009. Later, he formed Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which also merged with JD(U) in 2021. On 20 February 2023, Kushwaha resigned from all positions in Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha due to his political problems with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar. Kushwaha contested the Lok Sabha election of 2024 from Karakat constituency and finished at a distant third position. However, he was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in August 2024.
The Legislative Assembly election was held over five phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015.
Babu Jagdeo Prasad, alternatively spelled as Jagdev Prasad and popularly known as Jagdev Babu, was an Indian politician and a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly who served as Bihar's deputy chief minister in 1968 for four days in the Satish Prasad Singh cabinet. A great socialist and a proponent of Arjak culture, he was the founder of Shoshit Dal and was a staunch antagonist and critic of India's caste system. He was nicknamed as the "Lenin of Bihar".
Mahto or Mahato is a surname used by several castes and communities in Nepal and the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha in India.
Shakuni Choudhary is an Indian politician who is a founding member of Samata Party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency as member of the Samata Party. Choudhary has been known for political defection and has remained Deputy Speaker in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
Mahagathbandhan, also known as Grand Alliance, is a coalition of political parties in the Eastern state of Bihar in India, formed ahead of the 2015 Vidhan Sabha elections in Bihar. The alliance consists of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Congress (INC) and Left parties including Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation-CPIML (Liberation) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), with Tejashwi Yadav as the chairperson.
Mewalal Chaudhary was a leader of Janata Dal (United) and a minister for a brief period of time in the Nitish Kumar's cabinet. He was elected from the Tarapur assembly constituency to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 2020, and was made a minister in charge of Education in the Bihar Government. However, he had to resign just three days after his appointment, amidst row over his alleged involvement in a corruption case, for which he was booked earlier. Chaudhary was an educationist, and prior to becoming a legislator, he was serving as Vice Chancellor of various agricultural universities in Bihar.
The Luv-Kush equation is a political term used in the context of the politics of Bihar, to denote the alliance of the agricultural Kurmi and the Koeri caste, which was assumed to be approximately 15% of the state's population The alliance of these two caste groups has remained the support base of Nitish Kumar, as against the MY equation of Lalu Prasad Yadav, which constitutes Muslims and the Yadavs. Caste consciousness and the quest for political representation largely drive the politics of Bihar. The political alliance of the Koeri and the Kurmi castes, termed the "Luv-Kush equation" was formed when a massive Kurmi Chetna Rally was organised by members of the Kurmi community in 1994 against the alleged casteist politics of Lalu Yadav, who was blamed by contemporary community leaders for promoting Yadavs in politics and administration.
Rajeev Kumar Singh is a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Tarapur constituency in the Bihar Legislative Assembly in India. He is a member of Janata Dal (United). He has been elected as the MLA on 2 November 2021. Singh got the ticket from Janata Dal (United) amidst the confusion over allocation of Tarapur constituency to Rohit Chaudhary, the younger brother of leader of opposition in Bihar Legislative Council, Samrat Chaudhary. The Tarapur constituency was the stronghold of Shakuni Choudhury, who had influence over Kushwaha voters, who are dominant in this assembly constituency. However, Rajiv Kumar Singh, himself a Kushwaha, was able to defeat his nearest rival in the bypolls of 2021.
Vyas Deo Prasad also known as Vyas Deo Prasad Kushwaha is an Indian politician, former Minister of state in the Government of Bihar from April 2008 to November 2010. He represented Siwan in the Bihar Legislative Assembly thrice in a row winning 2005, 2010, 2015 elections. In 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, he was denied a ticket to contest from Siwan in favour of Om Prakash Yadav who lost the election to Awadh Bihari Choudhary.
The 2024 Indian general election was held in Bihar in all 7 phases from 19 April to 1 June to elect 40 members of the 18th Lok Sabha, with the results declared on 4 June.
The Rashtriya Lok Morcha, originally established as Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal is an Indian political party formally announced by Upendra Kushwaha on 20 February 2023, in Bihar after resignation from Janata Dal (United). The party's ideology is based on the ideals of Karpoori Thakur. The foundation of the party was preceded by a two day conference organised by Upendra Kushwaha in Patna, in which he invoked the participation of all the members of Mahatama Phule Samata Parishad, a socio-political organisation and his trusted aides in Janata Dal (United). In the backdrop of this conference the foundation of the party was announced. Jitendra Nath who hails from sheikhpura was made the party's vice president.
Kushwaha is a surname used by people of Koeri caste in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The Kushwahas are also known as Maurya, Shakya, or Saini in various parts of north India. As per one opinion, the Kushwaha surname is also common among members of Kachhi caste, who later merged with the Koeris to become a single homogeneous community. They are a dominant OBC community in the state of Bihar.
The JDU's winning in Bihar Legislative Council are Dr. Kumud Verma, Professor Ghulam and Bhisam Sahni. While RJD to Mo Farooq, Rambali Singh and Sunil Kumar Singh have been made MLCs. On the other hand, Sanjay Prakash and Samrat Chaudhary from BJP have secured MLC seat while Sameer Kumar Singh from Congress has got a place in Bihar Legislative Council.
BJP leader Samrat Chaudhary who comes from Kushwaha community, on the statement made by the RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha says that we are neither milk sellers nor rice growers, we are vegetable growers. The Kushvanshis (Kushwaha Caste) are known for vegetables. Rice is grown by people of every society. Although everyone should do the work of cooking kheer in politics, there are no two opinions about it. He was talking to a private television channel.