Hours before Samrat Choudhary takes oath as Bihar’s first BJP Chief Minister, the state’s administrative corridors are already humming with a quiet but decisive power shift. Nitish Kumar, who resigned as Chief Minister after his election to the Rajya Sabha and swearing-in there on April 10, has paved the way for a full NDA government with JD(U) as a key alliance partner. While political negotiations finalised a cabinet with Choudhary at the helm and likely two Deputy Chief Ministers (including senior JD(U) figures Vijay Choudhary and Bijendra Yadav), the bureaucracy is undergoing its own realignment — one that is removing the most trusted officers of the Nitish era even before the new government is sworn in.2631

The clearest signal came through a central government notification issued on April 14, clearing several senior Bihar-cadre officers for immediate central deputation. At the top of the list is Anupam Kumar (2003-batch IAS), long regarded as Nitish Kumar’s closest bureaucratic confidant and Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) since January 2019. Anupam, a physics postgraduate known for his sharp strategic acumen and deep involvement in day-to-day governance, has been posted as Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Power. His wife, Pratima S. Verma (2003-batch IAS, Secretary, Science, Technology & Technical Education Department), is also moving to the Centre. Other key departures include:

Vandana Preyashi (2003-batch IAS, Secretary, Social Welfare) — now Joint Secretary, Department of Fertilizers.

IPS officer Rakesh Rathi — Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Saravanan M — Joint Secretary, Department of Space.

Additional senior officers who had sought or received clearance earlier include B. Rajendra (1995-batch IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Education), Gopal Singh (2002-batch IFS, OSD to the CM), and others closely associated with policy execution under Nitish. The state government had already issued No Objection Certificates, and the timing — just before the new oath-taking — has sent a strong message through the Secretariat.