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
Succeeded by Nitish Kumar
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
Home Minister In-Charge, Government of Bihar
In office
26 November 2010 – 20 November 2015
Preceded by Nitish Kumar
Succeeded by Nitish Kumar
Leader of Opposition, Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office
19 February 2015 – 20 February 2015
Preceded by Nand Kishore Yadav
Succeeded by Nand Kishore Yadav
President, Bihar JD(U)
In office
14 February 2010 – 26 November 2010
Preceded by Rajiv Ranjan Singh
Succeeded by Bashistha Narain Singh
MLA, Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
Assumed office
2010
Preceded by Ramchandra Singh Nishad
MLA, Dalsinghsarai (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
In office
1982–1995
Preceded by Jagdish Prasad Chaudhary
Succeeded by Ram Lakhan Mahto
Personal details
Born (1957-01-08) 8 January 1957[1]
Dalsinghsarai, Bihar, India
Nationality Indian
Political party Janata Dal (United)
Spouse(s) Ganga Choudhary
Children Shubhaditya Choudhary, Ankita Choudhary
Residence 2 Deshratna Marg, Patna
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 currently serves as the Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly.

He has previously held the posts of 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 Government of Bihar.[3] He was considered to be the Number 2 minister in Bihar cabinet and continues to be 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] He has also held the position of Finance Minister-in-charge and presented Bihar's Annual Budget for the 2014-15 fiscal.[8][9] 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.[10][11][12][13][14]


Early life and career

Choudhary was born in Dalsinghsarai, Samastipur district of Bihar in a Bhumihar Brahman 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.[15]. 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 1982-1995, 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.

In Bihar Vidhan Sabha as the Water Resources Minister.

Chaudhary served as General Secretary of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee from 2000-2005. He joined JD(U) in 2005 and unsuccessfully contested the Bihar Legislative Assembly election, October 2005 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 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, 2010.[16][17][18] 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,[19] assuming charge on 26 November 2010.[18]

Chaudhary and Nitish Kumar are 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.[20]

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.[21]

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.[22]. 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.[23]

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.[24] 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. ↑ "WRD minister". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Key candidates to look out for in Bihar Elections 2015".
  5. ↑ SANJEEV KUMAR VERMA. "ministers back to business". Telegraph India.
  6. ↑ "Bihar govt for speedy trial in cases of rape, heinous crimes". Economic Times, Mar 14, 2013
  7. ↑ "Finance Bill passed by legislative assembly amid ruckus". Economic Times.
  8. ↑ "Bihar budget". the hindu. 2014.
  9. ↑ "Chaudhary sworn as wrd minister". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Positives in an uneven state". IBN Live (blog).
  11. ↑ "Nitish Kumar sworn in as 32nd Chief Minister of Bihar". DNA India.
  12. ↑ "Mandate for 'PM' Modi left Nitish no choice". Times of India.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ "Early life".
  16. ↑ "New chief of Bihar JD(U)". The Hindu, February 15, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Parties for deployment of central forces at ech booth". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Poor wrd fund".
  19. ↑ Bihar Legislative Assembly election, 2010
  20. ↑ "Bihar Durgawati reservoir project to see light of day after 38 years".
  21. ↑ "Crisis in Bihar. 20 Ministers Resign in Support for Nitish Kumar". NDTV.
  22. ↑ "Nitish Kumar's JD(U) recognised as main opposition party in Bihar".
  23. ↑ "Ministers allotted portfolios". Telegraph India.
  24. ↑ "Nitish Kumar's confidante Vijay Chaudhary is new Bihar Speaker".
  • "Bihar cabinet minister". Archived from the original on 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  • "Bihar foundation team".
  • "my neta info". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
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