Bihar: BJP's Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Sinha to be Deputy CMs in Nitish Kumar's govt

Nitish Kumar resigns: Bihar is likely to have two deputy Chief Ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the new government to be formed with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) or JD(U). Names of BJP Bihar state unit president Samrat Choudhary and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly Vijay Sinha are doing the rounds for the same, as per reports.

The development was confirmed by Bihar BJP spokesperson Sumit Shashank. Shashank said, "Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha will be the deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar." Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar.  

At the Raj Bhawan, Nitish Kumar told the Governor, "We have decided to sever ties with the Mahagathbandhan in the state." Ahead of Kumar's resignation, the BJP said that it would form a government in the state with JD (U) and other allies.

"The mandate that we received in 2020 for the development of Bihar and to end the terror of Lalu Yadav- when the BJP received the proposal from Nitish Kumar to ensure that there is no Jungle Raj in Bihar, we decided to support it," Samrat Choudhary said. 

Commenting on Nitish Kumar's joining the NDA alliance, former Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took this decision to safeguard the interests of the people of Bihar. He also thanked PM Modi and BJP national president JP Nadda for the same. 

"The condition of Bihar would have been like West Bengal, PM Modi took this decision in the interest of the people of Bihar. There was a jungle raj from 1990-2005, to ensure that this doesn't happen again, this decision was taken. On behalf of the party, I thank PM Modi and party president JP Nadda," Jaiswal told news agency ANI. 

Meanwhile, Samrat Choudhary thanked BJP, PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah after he was elected as the legislative party leader in Bihar. "I thank everyone, including PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other party leaders, for electing me as the leader of the legislative party," he said. 

RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari also took a jibe at Nitish Kumar and said that this would be the end of 'paltimaar' politics in Bihar. "Nitish Kumar has set a new world record. However, this would be the end of 'paltimaar' politics in Bihar. We have faith in the people of Bihar, and we will accept each and every challenge," Tiwari told news agency ANI. 

Also Read: Nitish Kumar resigns as CM: How numbers stack up in Bihar assembly