विजय कुमार चौधरी

Vijay Kumar Choudhary (born 8 January 1957) is the Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the post on 2 December 2015 after consensus was generated on his name among all political parties of the state, including the Opposition. He is known as an articulate and suave leader well versed in legislative practices.^[3] He previously served as Leader of Janata Dal (United)Legislature Party in Bihar Legislative Assembly^[4] and the Minister for Water Resources, Agriculture and Information & Public Relations Departments in the Bihar^[5] cabinet under Nitish Kumar.^[6] He was considered to be the Number 2 in the cabinet^[7] and had tendered his resignation from the Council of Ministers on 7 February 2015 to protest the continuance of Jitan Ram Manjhi as Chief Minister despite the election of Nitish Kumar as the Leader of JD(U) Legislature Party in Bihar Legislative Assembly and Council.^[8]He was recognized as the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on 19 February 2015 by the Speaker.^[9] He took oath as the Water Resources Minister again on 22 February when Nitish Kumar assumed charge of the state for the fourth time. He was given the additional charge of Agriculture and Information & Public Relations Department on 24 February 2015.^[10] He is a member of the Janata Dal (United) and served as the President of its Bihar unit from February 2010 to November 2010, having led the party during its spectacular victory in 2010 Bihar Assembly polls.^[11] He served as the Home Minister-in-charge and answered inBihar Legislative Assembly on all matters related to home affairs.^[12] He has also held the position of Finance Minister-in-charge and presented Bihar's Annual Budget for the 2014-15 fiscal.^[13][14] Known for being a soft spoken politician with a clean image, he is a close confidante of Nitish Kumar and was widely speculated to succeed him as Chief Minister of Bihar following the latter's resignation after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.^[15][16][17] He has been a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly since 1982.

Contents

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• 1Early life and career
• 2Political career
• 3Personal life
• 4References

Early life and career[edit]

Vijay Kumar Choudhary was born in Dalsinghsarai, Samastipur district of Bihar in a Bhumihar Brahmin Family. His father, the late Jagdish Prasad Choudhary, had been a freedom fighter, an Indian National Congress politician and a three term member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Dalsinghsarai constituency.^[18] He completed his Master of Arts in History from Patna University in 1979 and joined the State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer in Trivandrum in the same year.

Political career[edit]

After the untimely demise of his legislator father in 1982, he resigned from his job and won the subsequent by-election from Dalsinghsarai on a Congress ticket. He was elected from Dalsinghsarai for two more terms in 1985 and 1990. During his stint as a legislator from 1982-1995, he served as the Deputy Chairman of Bihar State Industrial Development Corporation (BSIDC) and Deputy Chief Whip of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). He ran again from Dalsinghsarai in 1995 and 2000 but lost the elections. He served as General Secretary of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee from 2000-2005. He joined JD(U) in 2005 and unsuccessfully contested the October 2005 Bihar legislative assembly elections from Sarairanjan. He was appointed as the General Secretary and Chief Spokesperson of the party in 2008. He continued to serve as the General Secretary until February 2010, when he was nominated as the President of Bihar JD(U).^[19] He won the subsequent legislative assembly elections from Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) and was rewarded with the crucial Water Resources ministry in the newly formed cabinet.^[20] He assumed charge of the Water Resources Ministry of Bihar on 26 November 2010.^[21] He is credited along with Nitish Kumar for the completion of Durgawati Reservoir in 2014, a massive irrigation project started in 1976 which got delayed for 38 years because of multiple reasons.^[22] He also serves as the Chairman of Bihar Foundation, a platform to facilitate interaction between Government of Bihar and the Bihari diaspora.^[23]

Personal life[edit]

He is married to Ganga Choudhary. The couple has a son, Shubhaditya and a daughter, Ankita

Over three decades after he opted out of his banking job to join politics, JD(U) heavyweight Vijay Kumar Choudhary was unanimously elected Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The journey to the chair saw the soft-spoken leader play number two to CM Nitish Kumar in his previous government as he held the portfolio of the state’s water resources minister.

Choudhary’s elevation came about after JD(U) drove a hard bargain with ally RJD for the Speaker’s post. An upper caste Bhumihar leader, Choudhary kept his prominent position in the Grand Alliance despite the bitter caste divisions playing out during the poll.

On Wednesday, Choudhary (58) became the 16th Speaker and 14th person to hold the position. Son of freedom fighter and former MLA Jagdish Prasad Choudhary, he represents the Sarairanjan assembly segment in Samastipur.

While he’s known as the CM’s close aide, Choudhary began his political journey with the Congress in 1982, when he quit his job as a bank manager to become an MLA.

He also won elections on a Congress ticket in 1985 and 1990. However, he crossed over to the JD(U) after Nitish became the chief minister.