BIHAR BATTLE: BJP banks on Samrat to woo Kushwaha voters

The Deputy CM of Bihar, Samrat Choudhary, BJP leaders believe, is the chosen one. A few days ago, Home Minister Amit Shah, while addressing a public meeting at Tarapur in in his constituency asked voters to ensure his victory. “He is to be given a big responsibility,” Shah declared.

This has led political circles to speculate if the BJP leads the NDA government, Choudhary will be the automatic choice as the first BJP CM of the state. Various surveys have suggested that 10 per cent of the population wants to see him as the CM. Though still behind Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish Kumar and even Prashant Kishor, there is nobody else in the BJP state leadership.

No other BJP leader has seen such a meteoric rise in the party. He joined the BJP in 2016, having made his way through the RJD, JD(U) and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM. He first caught Shah’s attention when he met him to plead his case for a Rajya Sabha seat from UP under the “Kushwaha quota”.

Shah reportedly told him, “Why are you in a hurry to leave Bihar? We will use you in Bihar.” In 2017, Samrat was made BJP vice-president, then an MLC and eventually rose to become both the state BJP president and deputy CM. However, his growing clout has caused resentment among BJP old-timers.

Why he fits in BJP’s game plan

Choudhary hails from the second-largest OBC group in Bihar after the Yadavs, the Kushwahas. The Kushwahas have traditionally supported Nitish under the Luv-Kush combination of Kurmis and Kushwahas. Yet, apart from Satish Kumar, who was a transitional CM for three days, the community has never seen a CM. For the BJP, aiming to expand its base among the second-largest OBC group, Samrat fits the bill perfectly. He is the son of Shakuni Choudhary, one of the most prominent leaders of this community.

His rise also coincided with the BJP’s decision to replace Sushil Kumar Modi, who had led the party in Bihar for over two decades. The central leadership also considered Modi too close to Nitish and believed it was hampering the BJP’s growth in the state.

Not new to controversy

Choudhary has had his share of controversies. After 2000, as part of an agreement for joining the RJD and leaving Nitish, Choudhary was made a minister even without being a member of either House. He was perhaps the only minister in Independent India to be dismissed by the Governor for being underage, after MLC PK Sinha produced an affidavit claiming Choudhary was only 22 at the time. Recently, Kishor accused Choudhary of using a false affidavit to get acquitted in a 1996 murder case in Tarapur, in which he was shown as a minor. Although Choudhary said he was framed by the Lalu government because his father was a political opponent.

Career flip-flops

Choudhary’s political career has seen several flip-flops. From being a Lalu supporter, he turned into a Nitish loyalist, then joined Manjhi, and finally landed in the BJP.

“As a child, I used to attend the RSS shakha,” he told this correspondent. In 2022, when Nitish joined hands with the RJD, Choudhary wore a saffron turban and pledged to cut his hair and remove the turban only after he removed Nitish from power. He eventually became Nitish’s deputy but still went to Ayodhya to shave his head.