Sushil Kumar Modi

About Sushil Kumar Modi

Arguably the most prominent figure in Bihar politics after Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sushil Kumar Modi is a former deputy chief minister and finance minister of Bihar. A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for life and belonging to the Vaishya Bania caste, he served as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s deputy and managed the state’s finance portfolio between November 2005 and June 2013.

Modi is credited with leading the BJP campaign in the 2010 state assembly elections, helping his party win 91 of the 102 seats it contested.

He has also been the Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for the Implementation of the GST.

Though the BJP-led NDA has not declared a chief ministerial candidate in the run-up to the 2015 assembly elections, Modi is believed to have the brightest chances of getting the state’s top job if the alliance wins a majority.

He has a clean image in Bihar politics and is valued for his low-key style. If Nitish Kumar takes credit for making Bihar development-oriented in the last decade, then at least part of the recognition should go to his former deputy as well.

Early life of Sushil Kumar Modi

Born on 5 January 1952 to Moti Lal Modi and Ratna Devi, Sushil Kumar Modi secured a B.Sc. degree and graduated from Patna Science College. He secured a Botany Hons in 1973.

When he was 10, Modi had joined the RSS. Later, as a teenager, he enrolled in a three-year RSS course. He worked in several capacities as a member of the Sangh organisation.

While pursuing his M.Sc, he preferred to quit mid-way and join the socio-political and anti-corruption movement spearheaded by veteran Gandhian Jai Prakash Narayan that started in Bihar and attracted thousands of students, including the likes of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar.

Political career of Sushil Kumar Modi

After joining the JP movement, Sushil Modi remained General Secretary of the Patna University Students Union between 1973 and 1977, and was arrested at least five times. He also served lengthy prison terms during and around the emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

After the emergency, he rose through the ranks of the BJP’s student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Between 1983 and1986, he was the All-India General Secretary of the ABVP. This was the time when the BJP was slowly consolidating its strength in north India on the back of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid movement.

Modi played a prominent role in leading anti-Urdu agitations in Bihar and UP and raising the issue of infiltration from Bangladesh.

He contested and won the assembly election from Patna Central in 1990 and was re-elected in 1995 and 2000.

He served as the leader of opposition for several years. For a short while, he was a minister in the Nitish Kumar government.

In 2004, he entered the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur constituency.

With the NDA coming to power in Bihar in 2005, he became the deputy chief minister of the state, a post he held till June 2013 along with several other departments including finance. Modi has been the main opposition leader of the state ever since the JD(U) and BJP parted ways.