"No Vacancy": BJP's Samrat Choudhary On If He Will Be Bihar Chief Minister

There is no vacancy for Chief Minister in Bihar, and the BJP will continue to back incumbent Nitish Kumar for the top post, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said at NDTV Bihar Power Play in Patna today. The BJP leader was speaking to NDTV's Sumit Awasthi, Akhilesh Sharma, and Prabhakar Kumar.

Asked about the buzz over his chances to take over as Chief Minister, he replied, "There is no vacancy for Chief Minister. Bihar has seen a long, dark chapter. After (Bihar's first Chief Minister) Sri Krishna Sinha, Bihar saw many Chief Ministers in the next 40 years, and none completed the five-year term. Nitish Kumar showed development to Bihar. After 2005, girls and boys got school uniforms and cycles. He took education forward. Bihar had 2,000 high schools, now it has 10,000," he said.

On whether the time has come for the BJP to be stronger in Bihar, Choudhary replied, "We are the makers." "In 1990, Lalu Prasad Yadav became Chief Minister for the first time with the BJP's support. But he insulted Bihar, so the BJP parted ways with him. In 2000, Nitish Kumar's JDU had 34 MLAs and the BJP had 70. BJP still backed him for Chief Minister in Bihar's interest. In 2020, Nitish Kumar did not want to be the Chief Minister. Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) urged him," he said. "As long as Nitish Kumar is there, the BJP considers him the Chief Minister. There is no two ways about it," he said.

Countering the Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) attack on the scheme to give Rs 10,000 to about 1.5 crore women, he replied, "RJD is anti-women, it's in their DNA. Lalu Yadav was behind the tearing of the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament. Modi ji got the Bill passed. Lalu ji said Bihar's women have progressed because my wife has become the Chief Minister. On the other hand, Nitish Kumar gave 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayati raj institutions. The people of Bihar and the country know who is anti-women." He said the NDA has already delivered, and the Opposition bloc is just making promises. 

Responding to the speculation surrounding Nitish Kumar's health, he took a jab at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. "It was raining yesterday. A 36-year-old youngster was sleeping at home, and a 75-year-old man was addressing rallies," he said.

Countering Jan Suraaj Party Prashant Kishor's allegations of crime against him, Choudhary alleged political vendetta during Lalu Prasad's rule as Chief Minister. Taking a swipe at Kishor, he said, "Many novices will come to politics. I don't want to give them much importance. I have been working for 30 years, some for two years."

Asked about his father and veteran politician Shakuni Choudhary working with RJD in the past, he said, "Nitish Kumar and Laluji have worked together, BJP and Laluji have worked together, Congress jailed Laluji, he named his daughter MISA (after the Emergency era law), he is working with Congress now. These are political timings."

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