Art of the Possible

Youngest Dalit MP Shambhavi Choudhary plans to focus on connectivity to schools, colleges and hospitals, women and jobs

- Umesh Kumar Ray

SHAMBHAVI Choudhary, 25, who won the General Elections with a margin of 1,87,537 votes from Samastipur—one of the six Lok Sabha seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) in Bihar—is one of the youngest parliamentarians in the country. She is also the first woman MP from Samastipur.

The seat was earlier represented by constituent assembly member Satya Narayan Sinha, socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, and freedom fighter Ajit Kumar Mehta, among others.

Choudhary belongs to an influential political family. Her father Ashok Choudhary is a Janata Dal (United) leader and a minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.

Choudhary did her MA in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics in 2022. For the most part of her life, she was out of the limelight as she was not that fond of politics and being in public life. Her name only made headlines after she entered the political arena.

The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), the political outfit floated by the late Ram Vilas Paswan, gave her a Lok Sabha ticket from Samastipur.