New Delhi, Samrat Choudhary, who was sworn in earlier this week as one of Bihar’s two deputy chief ministers and handed the crucial home affairs portfolio, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s official residence in the capital on Thursday. The meeting, described by Mr Choudhary as a “courtesy call”, comes just days after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a decisive victory in the Bihar assembly elections and formed its tenth government under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Sources within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the discussions centred on law-and-order priorities in the state and closer coordination between the Centre and the new NDA government in Patna. For the first time since Mr Kumar returned to the NDA fold in January 2024, the BJP has been allotted the home department – a portfolio long retained by the chief minister himself or his JD(U) colleagues.
Mr Choudhary, a prominent Kushwaha leader who played a key role in consolidating the non-Yadav OBC vote for the NDA, also held separate talks with Vinod Tawde, the BJP’s national general secretary (organisation) and Bihar in-charge. The meetings followed a felicitation dinner hosted by BJP national president J.P. Nadda on Wednesday evening, which was attended by Mr Shah, party organisation general secretary B.L. Santosh, and several central and state leaders involved in the Bihar campaign.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Shah wrote: “Met Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Shri Samrat Choudhary in Delhi today. The people of Bihar have given a massive mandate to the NDA. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the NDA government will work with renewed vigour to ensure good governance and build a developed Bihar.”
Mr Choudhary echoed the sentiment, posting photographs of the meetings and thanking the central leadership for their guidance.
The allocation of the home portfolio to the BJP has been widely interpreted as a signal of the party’s growing influence within the Bihar NDA, particularly after it emerged as the single-largest constituent in the 243-member assembly. Political observers suggest that Mr Choudhary’s elevation and his early visit to Delhi reflect preparations for a longer-term leadership transition within the state unit, with the 56-year-old leader increasingly seen as a potential successor to the 74-year-old Mr Kumar.
The new Bihar cabinet was sworn in on 23 November after the NDA won a comfortable majority in the elections concluded earlier this month. The alliance is now focused on delivering on its campaign promises of accelerated infrastructure development, job creation, and stricter law enforcement – areas likely to have figured prominently in Thursday’s discussions in the capital.
