Sushil Kumar Modi, a stalwart of Bihar politics, passes away at 72

Patna: Sushil Kumar Modi, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, succumbed to cancer on Monday night at a hospital in New Delhi.

Aged 72, Modi had a distinguished political career, serving as Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister from 2005 to 2013, and again from 2017 to 2020.

The news of his demise was met with deep sorrow by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and numerous senior leaders across party lines. The BJP’s state unit expressed their grief, stating: “The BJP family is deeply saddened by the news of the demise of former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and former Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sushil Kumar Modi.”

His passing is seen as an irreparable loss for Bihar and the entire BJP family. Modi breathed his last at around 9.45 pm at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. His cremation is scheduled for Tuesday in Patna, according to party sources.

Modi had publicly announced his battle with cancer last month, stating that he would not be able to participate in the Lok Sabha elections campaign. He expressed his gratitude and dedication to the country, Bihar, and the party in a post dated April 3.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his condolence message, highlighted Sushil Kumar Modi’s invaluable contribution to the rise and success of BJP in Bihar. He praised Modi’s opposition to the Emergency, his hard work as an MLA, his deep understanding of political issues, and his commendable work as an administrator. He also acknowledged Modi’s active role in the passage of GST.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his personal loss, recalling their time together during the JP movement. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Bihar BJP President and state Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhry, and Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha also paid their tributes.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav extended their condolences, with Yadav describing Modi as a “guardian, struggling and hardworking leader”.

Born in a Vaishya family in Bihar, Modi got involved in student politics while pursuing his BSc at Patna University and had played a key role in the Bihar movement of 1974 led by legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, during which he also came in touch with his future collaborator Nitish Kumar and would be adversary Lalu Prasad.

He went on to become one of the most prominent leaders of the ABVP, the RSS’s students’ wing, in Bihar, and often credited his entry into politics to the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

According to an anecdote Modi often shared, it was at his marriage ceremony in 1986 that the former prime minister, who at that time headed the BJP, told him that it was time to give up student politics and become a “full time political activist”.

He made his electoral debut in 1990 from the now abolished Patna Central assembly seat and old residents of the city recall him as an unassuming figure who moved on a scooter, yet possessed a steely resolve as evident by his tireless activism against alleged corruption in the government headed by Lalu Prasad.

Modi often took pride in having been one of the litigants in the petition on which the Patna High Court ordered that the infamous fodder scam be investigated by the CBI, which later submitted a charge-sheet forcing Prasad to step down in 1997, but only to replace himself with wife Rabri Devi.

Modi earned his spurs as a doughty leader of the opposition in the assembly, a post he held till 2004 when he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur.

A year later, however, the RJD-Congress combine was routed in the state assembly polls and Modi was back in Bihar, as the deputy to JD (U) de facto leader Nitish Kumar, who became the chief minister.

It was during this crucial juncture that the party also entrusted him with the state president’s post and Modi handled the twin responsibilities with a dexterity that won him many admirers.

Modi occupied the deputy CM’s post until Kumar’s first break up with BJP in 2013, and was back four years later when the JD (U) supremo realigned with the NDA.

The rapport between Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi has been the stuff of legend in Bihar politics. The JD (U) leader has often expressed regret over the sidelining of his trusted former deputy, who was stripped of the post after the 2020 assembly polls and shifted to Delhi with a Rajya Sabha berth.

Hardliners in the BJP blamed his “soft” stance towards Kumar for the BJP’s inability to gain the upper hand “despite diminution in the chief minister’s popularity”.

However, few doubt his role in scripting the state’s economic turnaround, having held the crucial finance portfolio for more than a decade.