Nitish Kumar Resigned Voluntarily, Claims Bihar’s New CM Samrat Choudhary

Bihar’s political landscape shifted again on Friday when Samrat Choudhary, the state’s first BJP chief minister, told reporters that Nitish Kumar’s resignation was entirely his own decision. According to Choudhary, the BJP never asked Kumar to hand over the top job.

“Nitish stepped down of his own accord. We did not press him to do so,” the new CM said at a press meet organised by a leading media house in Patna. He added that Kumar, now a Rajya Sabha MP, continues to be the NDA’s undisputed leader in Bihar.

Choudhary went on to invoke a memory from the year 2000, when the Assembly elections left the house hung and Kumar – then heading the Samata Party – became chief minister for a brief week. The coalition, led by the BJP, failed to muster a stable majority, prompting Kumar’s swift exit.

“He recognised that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once let him be chief minister when the BJP had more legislators than his own party,” Choudhary explained. “Now he wanted to return the favour, which is why he stepped aside.” The remark hinted at the long‑standing give‑and‑take between the two allies.

While emphasizing the BJP’s “support” for Kumar over the years, Choudhary also reminded the audience of another familiar name – Lalu Prasad Yadav. According to him, Lalu’s rise to the chief minister’s office was likewise possible because of the “benediction” of the saffron party.

“Lalu became chief minister thanks to the BJP’s blessing, even though that move sidelined Dalit leader Ram Sundar Das, who had a rightful claim,” Choudhary said, adding a touch of historical perspective.

Ram Sundar Das, a former chief minister in the 1970s, re‑emerged in the early 1990s when the Janata Dal, backed by external support from the BJP, formed the state government. He later lost a tight internal election for the party’s legislative leader to Lalu, a loss political analysts attribute to a split among upper‑caste legislators.

In short, Choudhary’s remarks painted a picture of Bihar politics as a series of alliances and mutual courtesies, rather than coercion. Whether Nitish Kumar’s departure was truly voluntary remains a matter of interpretation, but the new chief minister is clear: the BJP did not push him out, and the NDA partnership endures.