Shambhavi Choudhary had contested on LJP ticket
Shambhavi Choudhary of the Lok Janshakti Party on Tuesday became one of the youngest Member of Parliament after securing a victory in Bihar's Samastipur Lok Sabha seat. The 25-year-old defeated Sunny Hazari of the Congress party by 1,87,251 votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier praised Shambhavi as the youngest NDA candidate while addressing a campaign rally.
Besides her, there are three other leaders -- Sanjana Jatav from Rajasthan's Bharatpur, Pushpendra Saroj from Kaushambi and Priya Saroj from Machhlishahr in Uttar Pradesh -- who are 25 years old and among the youngest MPs set to be a part of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Who is Shambhavi Choudhary?
1. Born in 1999, Shambhavi Choudhary comes from a political family that goes back three generations. Her father Ashok Choudhary is a senior leader in the ruling Janta Dal (United) and one of the most influential ministers in the Bihar cabinet. He was earlier with the Congress party and switched to the JD(U) in 2018.
2. Ms Choudhary holds a Masters of Arts (Sociology) degree from the renowned Delhi School of Economics. She completed her post-graduation in 2022. Before that, she completed her graduation from the Lady Shri Ram College in the national capital. At present, she is reportedly the director of the Gyan Niketan School in the state capital and is pursuing her PhD from Magadh University.
3. She is married to Saayan Kunal and is the daughter-in-law of Acharya Kishore Kunal, a former IPS officer and social reformer.
4. Ms Chaudhary's grandfather -- the late Mahavir Choudhary -- was a longtime member of the Congress party. He was a minister when the party was in power in Bihar.
5. Another fascinating aspect of Ms Chaudhary's victory was that she defeated Sunny Hazari, the son of senior JD(U) leader Maheshwar Hazari. Mr Hazari contested on a Congress ticket in Samastipur.