Why BJP Had To Replace Samrat Choudhary With Dilip Jaiswal As Bihar Unit President

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed Dr Dilip Jaiswal as the president of the party's Bihar unit, replacing Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.

The change was expected after the BJP won 12 of the 17 seats it contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, down from 17 in 2019. Moreover, Choudhary failed to attract even his community's votes for the party.

Choudhary hails from the Kushwaha (Koeri) caste, which comes under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. However, the majority of votes from this community are believed to have gone to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

The Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat has been considered a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fortress since 2009. However, the BJP lost here this time to RJD's Abhay Singh Kushwaha, who is now the party leader in the Lok Sabha.

Similarly, the BJP lost in the Arrah, Buxar, and Sasaram seats, where Kushwahas are influential. It also could not help its ally, Upendra Kushwaha, win in Karakat.

Choudhary also failed to infuse enthusiasm into the BJP cadre. Many senior leaders of the party, including former Gaya Member of Parliament (MP) Hari Manjhi, were also unhappy with the Bihar BJP chief.

Choudhary was appointed as the Bihar BJP president in March last year as a stop-gap arrangement. Now, after a disappointing performance, the BJP does not see any reason to keep him on in the post, especially when he is the Deputy Chief Minister.

To replace him, the BJP has brought in Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Jaiswal, who is the Revenue and Land Reforms Department Minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet.

However, it is now expected that he will have to leave his ministerial position as per the BJP constitution. Notably, he has raised the issue of corruption in his own department and might have therefore been shifted to the party.

Nevertheless, Jaiswal is a better choice for the state BJP president's post than Choudhary for various reasons.

First, Jaiswal has been in the BJP all his political life, unlike Choudhary, who was in the RJD earlier, then in Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], and eventually the BJP.

After serving in various positions in the party, including treasurer of the Bihar BJP for 20 years and Sikkim BJP in-charge presently, Jaiswal has grown through the ranks in the party, unlike Choudhary, who was considered an outsider by many.

Thus, Jaiswal would be able to gain the support of the party cadre and the trust of senior leaders easily, unlike Choudhary.

Second, he hails from Khagaria and has been an MLC thrice from Purnia-Araria-Kishanganj. These areas are in eastern Bihar, known as Seemanchal, and are considered to be areas where the BJP is weak.

The BJP has been relying on its ally JD(U) for these areas and has not been able to strengthen its own organisation there. With Jaiswal at the helm, the BJP's presence in the Seemanchal region could become more prominent.

Third, Jaiswal is a Vaishya by caste, which comes under the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) category in Bihar. Earlier, Sanjay Jaiswal, hailing from the same community, was also the Bihar BJP president.

The community is among the core voters of the BJP in Bihar. The recent caste survey in the state revealed that EBCs comprise 36 per cent of Bihar's population, and hence the party wants to stick with them.

For the Kurmi-Koeri votes, commonly known as 'Luv-Kush' votes in Bihar, the party will continue to rely on its ally JD(U). Kumar, being a Kurmi, commands influence over the community votes.

On the other hand, for the Koeri (Kushwaha) vote that went to the RJD this time, the NDA will have to try other measures to win it back.