Vijay Kumar Chaudhary

Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
15th Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
2 December 2015
Preceded by Uday Narayan Choudhary
Leader of JD(U) Legislature Party
In office
11 February 2015 – 20 November 2015
Preceded by Jitan Ram Manjhi
Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, Information & Public Relations, Animal and Fish Resources Government of Bihar
In office
26 November 2010 – 20 November 2015
Preceded by Narendra Singh
Personal details
Born (1957-01-08) 8 January 1957[1]
Dalsinghsarai, Samastipur, Bihar
Nationality Indian
Political party Janata Dal (United)
Spouse(s) Ganga Choudhary
Children Shubhaditya Choudhary, Ankita Choudhary
Residence 3 Deshratna Marg, Patna
Alma mater Patna University
Profession Politician
Probationary Officer
Religion Hinduism
Website http://www.wrd.bih.nic.in/

Vijay Kumar Choudhary (born 8 January 1957) is an Indian politician. He has been a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly since 1982, and in 2015 is the Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly. He previously served as Leader of Janata Dal (United) Legislature Party in Bihar Legislative Assembly[2] and the Minister for Water Resources, Agriculture, Animal and Fish Resources and Information & Public Relations Departments in the Bihar cabinet under Nitish Kumar.[3] He was considered to be the Number 2 in the cabinet.[4] He served as the Home Minister-in-charge and answered in Bihar Legislative Assembly on all matters related to home affairs.[5][6] He has also held the position of Finance Minister-in-charge and presented Bihar's Annual Budget for the 2014-15 fiscal.[7][8] Known for being a soft-spoken politician with a clean image, he is a confidante of Nitish Kumar and was speculated to succeed him as Chief Minister of Bihar following the latter's resignation after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.[9][10][11]

Early life and career

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.[12] 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

After the demise of his legislator father in 1982, Chaudhary 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.

Chaudhary 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).[13] He won the subsequent legislative assembly elections from Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) with a margin of 17557 votes and was rewarded with the Water Resources ministry in the newly formed cabinet,[14] assuming charge on 26 November 2010.[13]

Chaudhary served as President of the Janata Dal (United)'s Bihar unit from February 2010 to November 2010, and led the party during its victory in 2010 Bihar Assembly polls.[15][16]

Chaudhary and Nitish Kumar were responsible for the completion of Durgawati Reservoir in 2014, a massive irrigation project started in 1976 which was delayed for 38 years for of various reasons.[17]

Chaudhary 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.[18]

He was recognized as the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on 19 February 2015 by the Speaker.[19] 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 and later of Animal and Fish Resources in September 2015.[20]

He retained his Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in 2015 elections with a margin of 34044 votes. He was elected to the post of Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly on 2 December 2015 after consensus was generated on his name among all political parties of the state, including the Opposition.[21] He also serves as the Chairman of Bihar Foundation, a platform to facilitate interaction between Government of Bihar and the Bihari diaspora.

Personal life

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

References

  1. ↑ "Profile at the WRD, Bihar, India". Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary urged to recognise JDU as main opposition party in Bihar". Financial Express.
  3. ↑ [htt://gov.bih.nic.in/Governance/default.htm "WRD minister"]. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  4. ↑ SANJEEV KUMAR VERMA. "ministers back to business". Telegraph India.
  5. ↑ "Bihar govt for speedy trial in cases of rape, heinous crimes". Economic Times, Mar 14, 2013
  6. ↑ "Finance Bill passed by legislative assembly amid ruckus". Economic Times.
  7. ↑ "Bihar budget". the hindu. 2014.
  8. ↑ "Chaudhary sworn as wrd minister". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Positives in an uneven state". IBN Live (blog).
  10. ↑ "Nitish Kumar sworn in as 32nd Chief Minister of Bihar". DNA India.
  11. ↑ "Mandate for 'PM' Modi left Nitish no choice". Times of India.
  12. ↑ "Early life".
  13. 1 2 "Poor wrd fund".
  14. ↑ Bihar Legislative Assembly election, 2010
  15. ↑ "New chief of Bihar JD(U)". The Hindu, February 15, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Parties for deployment of central forces at ech booth". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Bihar Durgawati reservoir project to see light of day after 38 years".
  18. ↑ "Crisis in Bihar. 20 Ministers Resign in Support for Nitish Kumar". NDTV.
  19. ↑ "Nitish Kumar's JD(U) recognised as main opposition party in Bihar".
  20. ↑ "Ministers allotted portfolios". Telegraph India.
  21. ↑ "Nitish Kumar's confidante Vijay Chaudhary is new Bihar Speaker".

External links

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