The appointment of Samrat Choudhary, 54, as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bihar unit in March this year is aimed at realigning the party’s relations with different caste groups and political parties in the State.
Mr. Choudhary is the first BJP president from the Kushwaha community (traditionally Koeri caste), the largest Other Backward Class (OBC) group in Bihar after the Yadavs. This assumes significance as the party gears up to take on the Mahagathbandhan government led by Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar and his deputy and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav in the fight for Bihar’s 40 parliamentary seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Mr. Choudhary, who is a member of the Legislative Council and the son of former minister Shakuni Choudhary, was associated with the RJD and the JD(U) before joining the BJP in 2017. With his appointment, the BJP is looking to step up its OBC outreach, especially among the Kushwahas. This is one of the two communities in Mr. Kumar’s Luv-Kush vote base, an alliance between the Kurmi and Koeri castes, which together constitute about 10% of Bihar’s population.
