Posters declare Samrat Chaudhary as new Bihar CM

Posters declaring Samrat Choudhary, the deputy CM of Bihar, as the man who would head the new government in the state, were on Thursday put up outside the BJP office in Patna as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar left for Delhi to be sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP.

The posters, a few of which were pulled down by the party office staff, bore the label of ‘Valmiki Samaj’, a community of Dalits associated with scavenging work.

“We do not know who has put up these posters. We can, at this moment, only say that who would be the next CM is a decision to be taken collectively, as has been the party’s tradition,” BJP state media in charge Danish Eqbal told reporters. Speculations are rife that upon being sworn in as Rajya Sabha MP on Friday, Kumar, who turned 75 last month, will hold the last meeting of his cabinet next week before giving up the chief minister’s post.