Vijay Kumar Chaudhary

Vijay Kumar Choudhary
Cabinet Minister, Government of Bihar
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 Mar 2024
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Water Resources Parliamentary Affairs
In office 03 Feb 2022 – 15 Mar 2024
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Water Resources Education Building Construction Transport Information & Public Relations Parliamentary Affairs
In office 22 Aug 2022 – 28 Jan 2024
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Finance Commercial Taxes Parliamentary Affairs
In office 09 Feb 2021 – 10 Aug 2022
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Education Parliamentary Affairs
In office 16 Nov 2020 – 08 Feb 2021
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Water Resources Rural Works Rural Development Information & Public Relations Parliamentary Affairs
In office 22 Feb 2015 – 16 Nov 2015
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Water Resources Agriculture Information & Public Relations
In office 26 Nov 2010 – 20 Jan 2015
Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Ministry and Departments	Water Resources
15th Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office 2 December 2015 – 15 November 2020
Preceded by	Uday Narayan Choudhary
Succeeded by	Vijay Kumar Sinha
Leader of Opposition, Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office 19 February 2015 – 20 February 2015
President, Bihar JD(U)
In office 14 February 2010 – 26 November 2010
MLA,
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 Nov 2010
Constituency	Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
Preceded by	Ramchandra Singh Nishad
In office 1982–1995
Constituency	Dalsinghsarai (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
Preceded by	Jagdish Prasad Chaudhary
Succeeded by	Ram Lakhan Mahato
Personal details
Born	(1957-01-08) 8 January 1957 (age 67)[1] Dalsinghsarai, Bihar, India
Political party	Janata Dal (United)
Spouse	Ganga Choudhary
Children	Ankita Choudhary, Shubhaditya Choudhary
Residence(s)	2 Deshratna Marg, Patna, Bihar
Alma mater	Patna University
Profession	Politician Probationary Officer
Website	http://www.vidhansabha.bih.nic.

Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (born 8 January 1957) is an Indian politician. He has been a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly since 1982, and is currently serving as the Cabinet Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs ministries in the Government of Bihar.

He has previously held the posts of Speaker of Bihar Vidhan Sabha , Leader of Janata Dal (United) Legislature Party in Bihar Legislative Assembly^[2] and the Minister for Finance, Commercial Taxes, Education, Buildling Construction, Transport, Rural Development, Rural Works Engineering, Information & Public Relations, Agriculture, Animal and Fish Resources ministries in the Government of Bihar.^[3] He is considered to be the Number 2 in JDU's pecking order of the Bihar cabinet and is a member of Nitish Kumar's core committee which shapes policies of the Government and the party.^[4][5]

Chaudhary served as the Home Minister-in-charge, putting forth the Government's stand on home affairs in Bihar Legislative Assembly.^[6][7] Known for being an efficient administrator and a soft-spoken person with a clean image, he is a close 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.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Early life and career

Choudhary was born in Dalsinghsarai, Samastipur district of Bihar in a Bhumihar Brahmin family. His father, late Jagdish Prasad Chaudhary, had been a freedom fighter, an Indian National Congress politician and a three term member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Dalsinghsarai constituency.^[13] 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 re-elected from Dalsinghsarai for two more terms in 1985 and 1990. During this stint as a legislator from 1982 to 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 sought re-election again from Dalsinghsarai in 1995 and 2000 but lost the polls. Chaudhary served as General Secretary of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee from 2000 to 2005. He joined JD(U) in 2005 and unsuccessfully contested the October 2005 Bihar Legislative Assembly election from Sarairanjan. He was appointed as the General Secretary and Chief Spokesperson of the party in 2008. He continued to serve in this capacity until February 2010, when he was nominated as the President of Bihar JD(U) and led the party during its victory in 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.^[14][15][16] He himself won the election from Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) with a margin of 17557 votes and was inducted as the Water Resources Minister in the newly formed cabinet,^[17] assuming charge on 26 November 2010.^[16]

He 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.^[18]

He was elected as the Leader of JD(U) Legislature Party in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and staked claim to the opposition status. He was subsequently recognized as the Leader of Opposition on 19 February 2015 by then Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary.^[19] Post victory in the trust vote and Nitish Kumar assuming charge as Chief Minister for the fourth time, he was inducted as the Cabinet Minister for Water Resources with the additional charge of Agriculture, Information & Public Relations and Animal and Fish Resources Departments.^[20]

He retained his Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in 2015 elections with a margin of 34044 votes. He was elected unopposed 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 BJP.^[21] He was re-elected from Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in the 2020 elections. He was inducted in the Cabinet of Nitish Kumar on 16 November 2020 and allotted the portfolios of Water Resources, Rural Works, Rural Development, Information & Public Relations and Parliamentary Affairs Departments.

Achievements

As Water Resources Minister, Chaudhary is credited with the completion of Durgawati Reservoir in 2014, a massive irrigation project started in 1976 which got delayed by 38 years due to land acquisition and environmental clearance related issues.^[22] His tenure (2010-2015) saw no major floods after the 2008 Bihar flood. Under his leadership, the Water Resources Ministry launched eight river-linking projects at a cost of Rs 4442 crores.^[23]

As Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chaudhary brought 44 amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, the most significant of them being the introduction of the concept of 'Confidence Motion' under Rule 109(A), wherein the Government of the day can move a motion to seek confidence from the House. Bihar is the only state in the country with a rule to deal with confidence motion moved by Government of the day. The Nitish Kumar government, with BJP and other NDA constituents as allies, was the first to move a confidence motion in the Assembly, on 28 July 2017, to prove its majority in the lower House. He also amended rules to allow inclusion of MLCs in House Committees dealing with financial matters.^[24][25]

He introduced a Question Reply Management System (QRMS) for online receipt of questions from MLAs and provision of answers by concerned Government departments through the same channel. To bring transparency in the recruitment policy of the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, he divested the Office of Speaker of powers of recruitment and awarded the job to a Central agency, also responsible for recruitment in Parliament of India through a competitive and fair process.^[26] He has also initiated the implementation of the National e-Vidhan Application Project to make Bihar Legislative Assembly paperless.^[27]

He organized workshops to facilitate dialogue between the civil society and legislators for more informed lawmaking. He has also been organizing blood donation camps on the Assembly's foundation day wherein legislators donate blood for use by needy patients.^[28]

Under his leadership as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Bihar Chapter, the Bihar Legislative Assembly successfully organised the annual conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association India Region, attended by both national and international dignitaries, including Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Emilia Monjowa Lifaka.^[29]

Personal life

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

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. "WRD minister". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
4. "Key candidates to look out for in Bihar Elections 2015". 6 November 2015 – via www.thehindu.com.
5. SANJEEV KUMAR VERMA. "ministers back to business". Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014.
6. "Bihar govt for speedy trial in cases of rape, heinous crimes". Economic Times. 14 March 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014.
7. "Finance Bill passed by legislative assembly amid ruckus". Economic Times.
8. "Positives in an uneven state". IBN Live (blog). Archived from the original on 15 October 2010.
9. "Nitish Kumar sworn in as 32nd Chief Minister of Bihar". DNA India.
10. "Mandate for 'PM' Modi left Nitish no choice". Times of India.
11. "Jitan Ram Manjhi is out to win friends to stay in the chief minister's chair". India Today.
12. "PA system pill to plug hearsay". Archived from the original on 12 November 2014.
13. "VIJAY KUMAR CHAUDHARY(Janata Dal (United)(JD(U))):Constituency- Sarairanjan(SAMASTIPUR) - Affidavit Information of Candidate:". myneta.info.
14. "New chief of Bihar JD(U)". The Hindu, 15 February 2010.
15. "Parties for deployment of central forces at ech booth". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
16. "Poor spending of Plan funds irks WRD minister". 3 January 2012 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
17. 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election
18. "Crisis in Bihar. 20 Ministers Resign in Support for Nitish Kumar". NDTV.
19. "Business News Today: Read Latest Business news, India Business News Live, Share Market & Economy News". The Economic Times.
20. "Ministers allotted portfolios". Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015.
21. "Nitish Kumar's confidante Vijay Chaudhary is new Bihar Speaker". 2 December 2015 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
22. "Bihar Durgawati reservoir project to see light of day after 38 years". Zee News. 25 August 2014.
23. "Bihar launches ambitious river linking projects". 3 June 2011 – via www.thehindu.com.
24. "Where govt can move confidence motion". www.telegraphindia.com.
25. "Trust vote: Vijay Kumar Choudhary writes to LS Speaker on Bihar's rule". 7 June 2017 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
26. Pioneer, The. "Bihar Assembly introduces online questions for MLAs". The Pioneer.
27. "Assembly to go paperless: Speaker". 6 November 2018 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
28. "Bihar legislators to donate blood on assembly foundation day tomorrow". India Today.
29. "Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meet begins in Patna on Saturday".

External links

• "Bihar cabinet minister". Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
• "Bihar foundation team".
• "my neta info". Retrieved 12 June 2014.