New Delhi: Janata Dal (United) leader Ashok Choudhary, Bihar’s powerful rural works minister and a close aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is facing mounting criticism not just from political rivals Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj, but also from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
BJP leader and Nitish’s deputy Vijay Sinha criticised Choudhary earlier this week, which is being seen as part of the BJP’s efforts to rein in Nitish’s leadership and curb what they perceive as unchecked governance denting the alliance’s public image in an election year.
A confrontation between the two took place during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting when Choudhary asked Sinha, who also holds the agriculture portfolio, as to why land belonging to his department was not being transferred to build a college in the Chainpur constituency, represented by JD(U) minister Zama Khan.
Sinha responded by saying the transfer of agricultural land had been halted by CM Kumar and that it could not be done without his approval. Sinha added that his department would only facilitate the transfer if it received land in exchange. “If I transfer land (otherwise), what will people say?”
An upset Choudhary hit back, asking Sinha, “Will you be agriculture minister for life?”
This invited a sharp retort from the BJP leader. “Already people are questioning your ministry and it is attracting a bad name. You should concentrate on your ministry,” he told the JD(U) leader.
Sources suggest Sinha’s jab at Choudhary was fuelled by a recent attack by Bihar Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav after Vinod Kumar, an engineer in Choudhary’s rural works department, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in a corruption case.
The engineer was held after he and his family allegedly tried to burn Rs 10 crore in cash and flush it down the drains, which led to a clogging of the sewer lines. During the raid, EoW officials could recover Rs 52 lakh in cash, of which currency notes worth about Rs 39 lakh were damaged beyond use.
Yadav, also the RJD MLA from Raghopur, wrote a long X post on the issue, headlining it “The bizarre tale of Modi-Nitish corruption”.
“In Patna, the capital of Bihar situated on the banks of the Ganga, a team from the EoU reached the house of an engineer close to a powerful minister at 1:30 am. But the engineer’s wife did not open the gate until 6 AM. In those few hours, an attempt was made to destroy evidence by burning nearly Rs 10 crore.
“Burnt notes worth Rs 10 crore were found in toilet pipes and drains, clogging the entire system. Cash was recovered from the water tank and toilet pipes. The municipal corporation had to be called in to clear the choked drains in the neighbourhood,” he wrote.
Adding, “Earlier, Rs 11 crore in cash had also been recovered from the home of another engineer in the building construction department. Corruption in Bihar has reached such levels that even the ashes of burnt notes are now choking the city’s drains. For this, all BJP and Nitish Kumar supporters can thank Modi and Nitish. In recent days, one engineer was found to be the owner of Rs 500 crore, another Rs 300 crore, and another Rs 100 crore.”
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Bête noire
Last month too, during a meeting of NDA MLAs in the Central Hall of the Bihar Assembly, held in the presence of CM Nitish Kumar, some BJP legislators complained that Choudhary does not invite local BJP MLAs to departmental programmes and does not extend support to their workers. It is not the sole responsibility of the BJP to honour the “coalition dharma”, Deputy CM Sinha said, also raising objections over the global tender process for rural road construction, alleging the interest of BJP MLAs and workers had been ignored.
Sinha further flagged the case of MLA Prahlad Yadav, who defected from the RJD, pointing out that several JD(U) leaders were openly saying he would not be given a ticket in the next election. “This is not right,” he said.
मोदी-नीतीश के भ्रष्टाचार की अजब-गजब कहानी!
गंगा किनारे बसी बिहार की राजधानी पटना में रात 𝟏:𝟑𝟎 बजे एक शक्तिशाली मंत्री के करीबी इंजीनियर के घर 𝐄𝐎𝐔 की टीम पहुंची लेकिन इंजीनियर की पत्नी ने सुबह छह बजे तक गेट नहीं खोला।
इन चंद घंटों में लगभग 𝟏𝟎 करोड़ ₹ जलाकर सबूत मिटाने…
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) August 25, 2025
In June, the RJD launched a sharp attack on Nitish, accusing his government of creating a “permanent damaad (sons-in-law) aayog” in Bihar by inducting relatives of prominent politicians into commissions and boards. It pointed out that several kin of political leaders, including the sons-in-law of Ashok Choudhary, Jitan Ram Manjhi and the late Ram Vilas Paswan were given positions in state bodies.
Ashok Choudhary’s son-in-law Saayan Kunal was appointed a member of the Dharmik Nyas Board. Kunal is married to Choudhary’s daughter Shambhavi, a Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP.
The RJD alleged that such appointments highlight the Nitish government’s double standards on nepotism.
Ashok Choudhary himself was selected as an assistant professor by the State University Commission. His former party, Congress, mocked his selection at the age of 58. A Congress leader in the state said, “Young people are not getting jobs, but Ashok Choudhary has become a professor at the age of 58, thanks to the RSS quota.”
Choudhary defended himself, saying he would not take a salary and had applied five years ago due to his aptitude in academics. He added his research papers have been published in several journals and that he was even invited to the Harvard to present a paper on women from the Scheduled Class (SC).
Before that, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor charged Choudhary with “purchasing” a Lok Sabha ticket from the LJP (RV) for his daughter Shambhavi in the 2024 general election. “Ashok Choudhary is an all-party leader. His father was in the Congress, he is a minister from the JDU, his daughter is an MP from the LJP, and his son-in-law got membership (of the Nyas) through the RSS quota,” Kishor said.
Choudhary responded with a defamation case against Kishor, accusing him of tarnishing his image.
Last year, after the Lok Sabha polls, Choudhary blamed the Bhumihar community for the JD(U)’s loss in Jehanabad, indirectly hinting the BJP could not transfer Bhumihar votes to the JD(U).
“I know the Bhumihars very well. When the Lok Sabha elections were held, these people abandoned Nitish Kumar. Just because we fielded a candidate from an extremely backward caste, we lost,” he had said. The remarks drew sharp condemnation from the BJP and Sinha responded, “Bhumihars are not just a caste. They represent a culture that is rooted to the ground. No well-wisher of society would make an adverse remark about the community.”
A Nitish confidant
Ashok Choudhary’s rise in Bihar politics has been remarkable. Once considered the Congress’s prospective Dalit face in the state, he became one of Nitish’s close aides in less than a decade, leaving behind many others in the JD(U). His father, Mahavir Choudhary, was a senior Congress leader who held ministerial berths in several governments.
Choudhary, who holds a doctorate in political science along with degrees in law, began his career as a Youth Congress leader. He first won the Assembly election from Barbigha in 2000 and was made minister for prisons in the Rabri Devi government. He retained his seat in the February 2005 Assembly elections but lost the re-election held in November the same year.
The Congress then moved him into the organisational set up and appointed him vice president of the party’s state unit. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party fielded him from Jamui, but he lost, followed by another defeat in the 2010 Assembly elections.
Despite the setbacks, the Congress did not lose hope in him. When Rahul Gandhi, after becoming party president in 2013, began promoting young leaders in the states, Choudhary was appointed president of the Bihar Congress, becoming the first Dalit in 25 years to head the party’s state unit.
The appointment was made with the hope to counter Nitish’s aggressive Mahadalit outreach.
When JD(U) joined hands with the RJD and the Congress to form Mahagathbandhan in 2015, Choudhary was made education minister in the Nitish-led government. And when Nitish quit the Mahagathbandhan in 2017, Choudhary too dumped the Congress and switched to the JD(U) along with three Congress MLCs.
Nitish inducted Choudhary into his cabinet, and ahead of the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, made him working president of the JD(U). Given Choudhary’s Mahadalit background—he comes from the Pasi community—Nitish has relied on him to consolidate the estimated 19.65 percent Mahadalit vote bank as a loyal support base.
However, after the Lok Sabha elections, when the JD(U) inducted another Dalit leader, Shyam Rajak, and made him general secretary of the party, Choudhary posted a cryptic message on social media, hinting a rift between him and Nitish.
“Leave them as you grow older. If someone is not understanding after explaining it once or twice, then do not explain it to those in front of you, just leave it; when the children grow up and start making their own decisions, leave it.
“If we do not get ideas from one another, leave it; if after a certain age none asks about you or someone is saying wrong things about you behind your back then do not take it by heart, leave it; worrying about the future when you experience you have nothing in your hands, leave it; if there is a big difference between desire and ability, then have less expectations from yourself, leave it…,” he posted on X in Hindi.
The post did not go down well with the JD(U) and some leaders attacked him, but within two days, the rural works minister was made national general secretary of the JD(U). He visited Nitish and called Nitish ‘manas pita’ (father figure).
Asked if Choudhary and Sinha exchanging barbs had any impact on the strength of the NDA in an election year, a JD(U) leader told ThePrint, “In alliances, such disagreements happen. But overall, there is no such divergent point of view on larger issue of development.”
JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad told ThePrint, “Divergent views are part of democracy and such divergence can be seen in the cabinet.”
BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said, “The EoW action shows the Nitish Kumar government has zero tolerance to corruption and that is why the engineer was arrested. As far as Ashok Choudhary is concerned, in alliance every party has its own point of view but there are no differences as such.”
Another BJP leader from the state said, “Some ministers don’t take along BJP workers. The recent case of arrest has harmed the image of the rural development ministry.
“But due to Nitish Kumar’s clean image, the NDA will not feel the heat. With Nitish ageing, several groups within the JD(U) are promoting their interest over the party’s which is concern for the BJP and the NDA.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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