Samrat Choudhary named BJP legislature party leader in Bihar  

Tarapur MLA Samrat Choudhary was on Wednesday named the leader of BJP legislature party in Bihar during a meeting of newly elected legislators, UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said.

The newly elected MLAs also chose Vijay Kumar Sinha as deputy leader of the BJP's legislature party, he said.

Maurya, who was present in the meeting, said, "Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were elected the leader and deputy leader of the BJP's legislature party, respectively."

Maurya was appointed the central observer for the election of the legislature party leader in Bihar.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and former union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti were also made co-observers for the election of the legislature party leader of the BJP. Both were also present at the meeting.

Altogether, 10 newly elected MLAs of the BJP proposed the names of Choudhary and Sinha for the election as the leader and the deputy leader of the legislature party, respectively.

These proposals were seconded by all party legislators, a BJP leader said.

While Choudhary won from the Tarapur assembly seat, Sinha retained the Lakhisarai constituency in the recently concluded assembly polls.

Talking to reporters after he was elected deputy leader of the BJP legislature party, Sinha said, "I am grateful for the trust reposed in me by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other top leadership of the party. We will work hard to fulfil the PM's pledge of 'sushasan se samridhi' (progress through good governance)."

Senior BJP leader and former union minister Ravishankar Prasad, who was also present in the meeting, told reporters, "This is how decisions are made with love and consensus. First, people elected this government with such a massive mandate, and now MLAs have elected their leader in the assembly."

The new government will be formed on November 20.

The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with the BJP bagging 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.