Decisions that Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary had to roll back

It’s been nearly five months since Samrat Choudhary assumed the post of Chief Minister, replacing Nitish Kumar on April 15, 2026. His government has taken several policy decisions. However, in this very short span of time, he has also rolled back and made amendments to as many as half a dozen decisions after criticism from the Opposition or protests by the public in general.

The most recent decision the government had to withdraw was the Teacher Recruitment Exam (TRE-4), which was earlier announced to be conducted in two phases consisting of a Preliminary Test (PT) and a Mains exam. The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) had announced it in August 2026. However, after the massive protest by the students and leaders of the Opposition, the government agreed to hold the exam in a single phase. It was considered one of the major victories for the students and opposition.

Mr. Choudhary has taken a U-turn on a decision made in his first cabinet meeting on April 22, where the state cabinet agreed to develop 11 new satellite townships and prohibited land sales, purchases, transfers, and construction in those areas until a master plan is created.

Farmers and landowners protested against the decision, saying that projects would threaten agricultural land and the livelihood of farming communities. Samyukt Kishan Morcha (SKM) called for agitation in July. After the vehement protest, on August 12, the State Cabinet lifted the restriction imposed on the purchase, sale, and transfer of land. However, the farmers are still against the plan and are demanding to be withdrawn.

Not only that, the State Government made another U-turn from its decision to collect holding tax on pucca and semi-pucca houses in the villages and towns. Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh strongly opposed the Bihar Government’s decision allowing panchayats to levy taxes and fees, saying it will place an additional burden on the poor and small businesses.

Mr. Singh had alleged that while bank loans worth crores of rupees owed by large industrialists were being written off, the government was preparing to impose new taxes on poor rural residents.

Earlier, the Bihar Cabinet authorised the Gram Panchayats to impose and collect taxes. The Panchayati Raj Department is in the process of amending the provision for collecting fees from the villagers.

The Student Credit Card scheme, initially launched by former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for ₹4 lakh, was cut to ₹2 lakh by the Samrat Chaudhary-led government. However, after backlash from students and the Opposition, Mr. Chaudhary reversed the August 19 decision and restored the ₹4 lakh limit, which the Cabinet has approved.

Also, the State Cabinet had approved rules for collecting user fees (tolls) from all categories of vehicles on State highways and State bridges. Following the mounting pressure from the Opposition and general public over the newly notified road user fee framework, Mr. Choudhary changed the decision within 24 hours, saying that no user fee would be charged for private vehicles and the fee would apply only to commercial vehicles.

A decision was made to temporarily merge Mr. Choudhary’s residence at 5 Desh Ratna Marg with the Chief Minister’s residence. After facing criticism, he clarified the temporary nature of the merger. Later, 5 Desh Ratna Marg was allotted to Health Minister Nishant Kumar.

Asked about the possible reasons for such decisions by the government, Patna-based political expert Dr. Sanjay Kumar told The Hindu that rolling back decisions happens because many decisions were taken in haste without thinking about their repercussions. He asserted that such things were rarely seen during the rule of Nitish Kumar.

“The government wants to do things very fast; the current CM is trying to draw a bigger line than his predecessor in terms of development. It is also true that the government sometimes makes major announcements to be in the limelight, through which they also measure the public as well as the opposition’s response. Sometimes, the government gets applause, but sometimes they face the backlash as well,” Mr. Kumar said.

When Mr. Choudhary had completed 100 days as Chief Minister of Bihar on July 23, 2026, he had asserted that he had taken many historic decisions and pointed out that every decision taken during 100 days was dedicated to the public interest, good governance, and the all-round development of Bihar.