Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For Samrat Choudhary, the challenge of becoming Bihar’s first BJP chief minister was always going to extend beyond taking charge of the government. Succeeding Nitish Kumar, who dominated Bihar politics for decades, meant establishing his own authority while managing a coalition accustomed to the JD(U) leader’s leadership. But six months into office, Samrat has another problem to contend with, and it is not the state’s principal opposition party, the RJD, or the LoP Tejashwi Yadav, but the leader of a party which has only an MLA. It’s Prashant Kishor of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP).
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The JSP, which failed to win a single seat in the 2025 Bihar Assembly election, has emerged as one of the most persistent challengers of the Bihar chief minister. Its chief, Prashant Kishor (or PK), has been constantly attacking Samrat Choudhary, his educational qualifications, criminal record and suitability for the post. He has also been repeatedly urging the BJP’s central leadership to replace him.
More significantly, PK has moved from attacking the chief minister rhetorically to challenging the BJP electorally. PK’s victory in the Bankipur bypoll, a seat held by the BJP for three decades, has given him a legislative platform and a result he can use to question Samrat’s political authority beyond the streets and rallies.
PK, the poll strategist-turned-MLA, is also posing a threat to the wider NDA led by Samrat in Bihar. He’s cleverly using the NDA’s aapda (adversity), and is seeking to turn it into an avasar (oppurtunity).
As the 57-year-old Bihar CM completes his first six months, the challenge in front of him is no longer how to respond to PK’s attacks. It has swelled into how the Bihar CM can prevent the lone MLA from setting the agenda for a government of established parties in Bihar.
PK’S BANKIPUR VICTORY PUT CM SAMRAT UNDER EARLY PRESSURE
The Bankipur bypoll was the first major electoral test for Samrat after he replaced Nitish Kumar as CM on April 15, 2026. The constituency was vacated by BJP national president Nitin Nabin following his elevation to the Rajya Sabha and had long been regarded as a safe seat and a BJP fortress in Patna. Before Nabin, his father, Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha, represented the urban seat in the heart of the capital.
PK’s victory there was significant not because one bypoll could determine Bihar’s political direction, but because of the symbolism attached to the constituency and the timing of the defeat.
For a chief minister still establishing his leadership, losing a traditional BJP stronghold, which was also the home turf of the party’s national president, offered the opposition an opportunity to question his clout on the grassroots level.
PK wasted little time in amplifying that argument. In his victory speech, he appealed to PM Narendra Modi to find a “kaabil and charitravaan (competent and virtuous)” person for the Bihar chief minister’s post.
Even before PK was not an MLA, he had been launching scathing attacks and questioning Samrat’s qualifications and past record. But PK, who called the Bankipur bypoll a referendum, went straight to attack Samrat Choudhary.
The BJP dismissed PK’s Bankipur win as an isolated setback. PK acquired an Assembly seat, which now allows him to frame political disputes as further evidence of his challenge to the BJP.
The Bankipur defeat had created a narrative problem for Samrat at a time when he needed to demonstrate that his elevation marked the beginning of a new phase of BJP leadership in Bihar, rather than merely a change of chief minister within the existing NDA coalition.
PK TESTING THE BJP-LED NDA’S ABILITY TO HOLD TOGETHER
PK’s challenge to Samrat has become more complicated because it now intersects with his responsibility of managing the ruling coalition of the BJP, the JD(U), Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s LJP(RV), Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S), and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM.
The latest example where the NDA coalition is being tested is the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections, which is scheduled for October 23. Eight members of the upper house will be elected from the Graduates’ and the Teachers’ constituencies. A contest involving a specialised electorate, which is one of PK’s major planks, has turned into a test of NDA’s alliance discipline.
Mokama’s JD(U) MLA Anant Singh, who keeps Nitish Kumar in high regards, has openly backed PK’s JSP candidate Anuj Kumar Singh against his own party’s nominee, Neeraj Kumar, in the Patna Graduates’ constituency.
The dispute has its roots in a longstanding personal rivalry between Anant Singh and Neeraj Kumar, dating back at least to the 2015 Bihar Assembly election. Anant Singh has said that Neeraj Kumar opposed him on several occasions and that he intends to return the favour. He has maintained that his opposition is directed at Neeraj rather than Nitish Kumar or the JD(U).
However, the tussle has placed the ruling BJP-led alliance in an uncomfortable position. An MLA of the BJP’s key ally is campaigning for a candidate backed by PK, the same politician who has made challenging the BJP chief minister a central part of his narrative.
Even as JD(U) leaders tried to pacify strongman Anant Singh, Samrat Choudhary also attempted to contain the dispute. Last week, he convened a meeting of NDA legislators at his residence in Patna. He warned against campaigning against official alliance candidates. But the meeting failed to resolve the disagreement.
For Samrat, it’s a question of authority. As the head of the Bihar government, he must maintain coordination among the NDA’s constituent parties. But the dispute has shown that a warning from the chief minister was not enough to settle a disagreement.
Meanwhile, PK has sought to widen the dispute and intensify the manoeuvre. He has challenged Nitish Kumar to publicly appeal to voters to support Neeraj Kumar, promising to withdraw the JSP candidate if the former chief minister makes such an endorsement on camera.
ANOTHER BJP ALLY FACES RIFT IN BIHAR, 3 MLAs REBEL
It’s not just the JD(U) that CM Samrat might be with. A rebellion has also erupted in Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), with three of its four MLAs openly challenging the party leadership.
Alok Singh, Rameshwar Mahto and Madhav Anand backed independent candidate Ram Pukar Sinha against the JD(U)’s Pushkar Anand in the Saran Teachers’ seat polls.
The dispute escalated after Sinha was suspended from the RLM for six years.
The rebel MLAs have accused Kushwaha of promoting dynastic politics and neglecting party workers, pointing to his wife being an MLA and his son Deepak Prakash holding a ministerial post.
Rameshwar Mahto has warned of further action if workers’ concerns are ignored. However, the three MLAs have said that they supported CM Samrat Choudhary.
These challenges put the Samrat-led NDA under immense pressure and offer PK another opportunity to question the ruling coalition’s leadership. It also creates a problem for Samrat, who must ensure that an internal dispute does not overshadow the government’s work or undermine the image of a cohesive alliance.
While the cracks in the NDA are being harnessed by PK, the Jan Suraaj founder is also harping heavily through his narratives.
PK’S MISGOVERNANCE NARRATIVE AGAINST BIHAR CM
PK’s strategy is a mix of attacking Samrat over his personal image and criticising the BJP leader over alleged governance in Bihar. PK has been questioning Samrat’s educational qualifications and criminal record, while asking if he was suitable for leading the Bihar government.
That creates a particular challenge for Samrat. Responding to every personal allegation risks keeping the chief minister trapped in a contest defined by PK. Ignoring them entirely gives the JSP chief room to repeat his claims without a sustained political counterargument.
PK, who built JSP’s campaign around education, employment, and migration, has also promised private employment for 10,000 educated unemployed young people in constituencies where his candidates win. These issues offer him a way to highlight his criticism of Samrat’s policies regarding employment in a state plagued by outward migration.
Meanwhile, the Samrat-led government has unveiled plans for education expansion, including new colleges and model schools, alongside efforts to attract investment, develop infrastructure and improve grievance correction. These initiatives provide the administration with a basis to make its own case, but their political value will depend on implementation and measurable results.
For now, PK has succeeded in making himself a persistent presence in the political debate around Samrat’s government in Bihar. Whether the pressure develops into a wider challenge will depend on what his JSP builds next.
For the Bihar CM, however, the test is about more than one opposition MLA. It is about establishing that the BJP’s first chief minister in Bihar can command his coalition, deliver on governance and prevent a challenger with limited legislative strength from defining the terms of his leadership.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
