PATNA, April 15 -- Samrat Choudhary was unanimously elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party on Tuesday, clearing his path to become the party's first-ever chief minister of Bihar. Lawmakers of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also met later in the evening and endorsed his name as the coalition's leader in the assembly and the chief minister. Choudhary, who has been the state's deputy CM since January 2024, is set to take the oath of office on Wednesday morning. In his first reaction on X, Choudhary thanked the BJP leadership for trusting him to the state's top executive post. "This is not merely a position for me, but a sacred opportunity to serve the people of Bihar, to fulfill their trust and dreams. I pledge to live up to the expectations of one and all with complete dedication, commitment, and integrity," he said in a post on X. The meeting of the BJP legislature party came hours after Nitish Kumar, who moved to the Rajya Sabha after a historic stint at the state's helm that spanned two decades. At the meeting, Choudhary's name was proposed by fellow deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha and seconded by senior leaders Renu Devi and Mangal Pandey. Union minister and central observer Shivraj Singh Chouhan made the formal announcement, calling it a "historic moment" that fulfills the dreams of workers since the Jana Sangh era. "This is an emotional moment," said Chouhan. "These are historic moments. Workers who have helped build the BJP organisation since the Jana Sangh days are seeing their dreams being realised today. Their resolve is complete today. I congratulate Samrat Choudhary," he said. Earlier in the afternoon, Kumar submitted his resignation letter to governor Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) after holding the outgoing government's last cabinet meeting. Kumar reflected on his experiences spanning his 20-year tenure and described how he accelerated the pace of Bihar's development. Soon after tendering his resignation, Kumar said, "We did a lot of work for the people of Bihar and a lot more will be done in the state in the days to come, and Bihar will advance a great deal," in a post on X, his last as the CM. Expressing gratitude and extending his best wishes to all, Kumar, the longest-serving chief minister of Bihar, said, "After today's cabinet meeting, I met the Governor and submitted my resignation to him. Now the new government will take Bihar forward." He said that for the next five years, from 2025 to 2030, the framework of '7 Nishchay-3' has been prepared to further accelerate development in the state. "The Centre is also providing full cooperation in Bihar's development. For this, we thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With faster development, Bihar will join the league of top states and contribute to the nation's progress," he said. Recalling the formation of the NDA government on November 24, 2005, for the first time in Bihar, Kumar outlined the state's transformation, beginning with the establishment of the rule of law and expanding across sectors including education, health, roads, electricity and agriculture. Samrat Chaudhary, 57, belongs to the Koeri (Kushwaha) community and has long been seen as the BJP's CM face. Chaudhary entered politics in 1990, starting with the RJD. In 1999, he became agriculture minister in Rabri Devi government, but was removed in November 1999 after a controversy. His father Shakuni Chaudhary was a seven-time MLA from Tarapur since 1985. His mother, late Prabhabati Devi, was also a Samata Party MLA from 1998-2000. In 2017-2018, Samrat joined the BJP and rapidly rose through the ranks. He became both vice president and president of Bihar BJP. In 2020, he was elected to the legislative council. For many in Bihar, Kumar was the CM who worked towards ensuring basic infrastructure like roads, bridges and electricity. "Soon after taking charge in 2005, he came up with a cycle scheme, which added wings to girls and today the result is gender parity at the secondary level in a state where they hardly moved out earlier. He backed it up with reservation to women in jobs to change the mindset and sow the seeds for women-led development right from the grassroots level. His vision and passion have been matchless," said his long-time cabinet colleague Vijay Kumar Choudhary. Indispensable to Bihar's predominantly triangular electoral politics for any combination to form the government, Kumar is credited for the innovative 7-Resolves programme to make sure that Bihar's priorities did not suffer due to political compulsions. "His long-term vision can be understood by the fact that when he realised the growing pulls and pressures of politics, he came up with 7-Resolves in 2015, which remained a constant governance model till date irrespective of who aligned with him and when. That maintained a governance continuity," said former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies DM Diwakar. As Kumar leaves state politics, his party, the JD-U, is on an electoral high. After the 2020 loss when his party was relegated to the lowest-ever tally of 43 seats in the Assembly election, he bounced back five years later in 2025 with JD-U winning 84 seats to help NDA achieve a landslide victory like in 2010. "The way Nitish defied his age to slog constituency after constituency to reach where he wanted is an indication that he, perhaps, wanted to sign off on a high," said a senior party leader. Despite talks about his failing health, Nitish Kumar remained pivotal to Bihar's complex electoral arithmetic even in recent years. JD-U won 12 of the 16 seats it contested to equal the BJP in 2024, which fought one more, to emerge as a crucial ally for the NDA government at the Centre....