We know how to turn challenges into opportunities: Bihar BJP chief (IANS Interview)

MANOJ PATHAK

Patna, March 26 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has entrusted Samrat Choudhary with the responsibilty of strenghthening the party base in Bihar by appointing him the President of the party's state unit.

Choudhary, a vocal critic of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, comes from Kushwaha community.

He will be directly competing with the 'Mahagathbandhan' in the state, and is confident that the saffron party will win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2024.

The state BJP chief, in a conversation with IANS, said that he is always prepared to raise the voices of the common people in the state.

"I know that there are certain challenges, but we know how to turn challenges into opportunities," the newly-appointed Bihar BJP chief said, while asserting that "the party would definitely form government in the state".

Choudhary started his political career in 1990. His father, Shakuni Choudhary, was one of the founders of Samata party.

The BJP leader said that he would prioritise expanding the party base in the state and protect the honour and dignity of party workers.

When asked about caste-based politics and social equations, Choudhary said that BJP talks about the welfare and development of the poor and the marginalised.

Choudhary claimed that Nitish Kumar is "no longer important in the state politics and has become irrelevant". Citing the results of the 2015 state Assembly elections, the BJP leader said that it is apparent that "people do not like Nitish Kumar anymore".

He said that law and order situation has worsened in the state, and the deaths due to poisonous liquor after liquor ban and tricking people in the name of government jobs are the factors that led to the fall of Nitish Kumar.

Choudhary claimed that even Nitish Kumar's allies do not trust him now.

Talking about the 'Grand Alliance' (Mahagathbandhan), the state BJP chief said that it is "not appropriate to call it grand alliance as the state is suffering the most since they occupied the chair".

He further said that the Deputy Chief Minister here wanted to become the Chief Minister while the Chief Minister is aspiring to become the Prime Minister.

On a query that wheather the BJP will forge any new alliance in the state, Choudhary said that it would be the decision of the Central leadership.

Choudhary, who had held the responsibility of Agriculture Minister and Panchayati Raj Minister in Bihar, said that the organisational activism and leadership structure of the BJP is "very effective".

"The saffron party will achieve its target the basis of people's trust and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hardwork," he added.

Choudhary said that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is a symbol of 'Jungle Raj' and Nitish Kumar had no mass base left in the state.