Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary (57) was on Tuesday unanimously elected leader of the ruling NDA legislature party in the state, paving the way for his elevation as the Chief Minister.Choudhary will be the first ever BJP leader to be the CM of Bihar, where he began his career from the RJD, joining the JD(U) and eventually the BJP.An MLA from Tarapur who won the last Assembly election after spending a decade in the legislative council, Choudhary will take the oath of office on Wednesday.He will replace Bihar’s longest serving CM Nitish Kumar, who tendered his resignation to Governor Syed Ata Hasnain on Tuesday after holding the post for nearly two decades. He had recently taken oath as a Rajya Sabha MP.Choudhary’s anointment was being seen as imminent by large sections in the NDA and the BJP as the leader has managed to carve a niche for himself in the saffron party.Party strategist Amit Shah had famously given away hints about Choudhary’s future when he, while campaigning in Tarapur during the 2025 Bihar poll, sought the support of voters saying “Samrat will one day be a big man”.Choudhary began his political career from the RJD in 1999 when then Chief Minister Rabri Devi made him a minister. He was soon removed on Governor Suraj Bhan’s directions after evidence surfaced that he was yet to complete 25 years.In 2000, Choudhary became a full-fledged minister in the RJD government. After the RJD lost power to the JD(U)-BJP combine in 2005, Choudhary served as the RJD chief whip for five years before switching to the JD(U) in 2014. The HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi was the CM then. In 2017, Choudhary joined the BJP.Hailing from the Koeri group, one of the most powerful OBCs in the state, Choudhary rose to become state BJP chief and later Deputy CM. He has transformed from being a vocal critic of Nitish to one of his trusted aides.Nitish even handed the home portfolio to Choudhary, who was elected earlier as BJP legislature party chief in the presence of central observer Shivraj Singh Chouhan.“The caravan of Bihar’s development will continue to advance. With the trust of all the esteemed leaders of the NDA, we will take Bihar’s development, progress and good governance to new heights with renewed energy,” Choudhary said after his election.