Sushil Kumar Modi
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Assumed office
7 December 2020
Preceded byRam Vilas Paswan
ConstituencyBihar
4th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
In office
27 July 2017  16 November 2020
Chief MinisterNitish Kumar
Preceded byTejashwi Yadav
Succeeded byRenu Devi, Tarkishore Prasad
In office
24 November 2005  16 June 2013
Chief MinisterNitish Kumar
Preceded byKarpoori Thakur
Succeeded byTejashwi Yadav
Minister of Finance
Government of Bihar
In office
27 July 2017  16 November 2020
Chief MinisterNitish Kumar
Preceded byAbdul Bari Siddiqui
Succeeded byTarkishore Prasad
In office
24 November 2005  16 June 2013
Chief MinisterNitish Kumar
Preceded byRabri Devi
Succeeded byNitish Kumar
Leader of the Opposition
Bihar Legislative Council
In office
19 June 2013  27 July 2017
Chief MinisterNitish Kumar
Preceded byGhulam Ghaus
Succeeded byRabri Devi
Member of Bihar Legislative Council
In office
7 May 2006  11 December 2020
Succeeded byShahnawaz Hussain
Constituencyelected by Legislative Assembly members
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
2004–2005
Preceded bySubodh Ray
Succeeded bySyed Shahnawaz Hussain
ConstituencyBhagalpur
Leader of the Opposition
Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office
19 March 1996  28 March 2004
Chief MinisterLalu Prasad Yadav
Rabri Devi
Preceded byYashwant Sinha
Succeeded byUpendra Kushwaha
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office
1990–2004
Preceded byAquil Haider
Succeeded byArun Kumar Sinha
ConstituencyPatna Central
Personal details
Born (1952-01-05) 5 January 1952
Patna, Bihar, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse
Jessie George
(m. 1986)
Children2
Residence(s)Patna, Bihar, India
Alma materPatna University
Websitewww.sushilmodi.in

Sushil Kumar Modi (born 5 January 1952) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party who is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He is a former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar as well as the Finance Minister of Bihar from 2005 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020.[1] He is a lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He was appointed the Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for the Implementation of Goods and Service Tax in July 2011.[2]

Early life and education

Sushil Modi was born on 5 January 1952 to Moti Lal Modi and Ratna Devi.[3] He attended Patna Science College and graduated with B.Sc. (Hons) Botany degree in 1973. He enrolled in M.Sc. Botany Course at Patna University but left the course midway to join the social movement started by Jai Prakash Narayan.[4]

Modi married Jessie George on 13 August 1986, a Christian Keralite hailing from Mumbai.[5][6][7][8] Modi and Jessy were classmates during their research studies. During this time, they fell in love and decided to get married.

His wife is a professor in a college. The couple has two sons, Utkarsh Tathagat and Akshay Amritanshu.[9]

Sushil Modi performs Yoga, on the occasion of the 4th International Day of Yoga 2018 along with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ram Kripal Yadav

Early political career

Sushil Modi's political career started as a student activist at Patna University. He became the General-Secretary of Patna University Students' Union in 1973, Lalu Prasad Yadav who later came to be his biggest political rival was the President of the Union at the time. In 1974, he became a Member of Bihar Pradesh Chaatra (Student) Sangharsh Samiti which spearheaded the famous Bihar Student's Movement of 1974.[10][11] Modi was arrested five times during JP Movement and the Emergency. He was arrested during the 1974 student movement in Bihar. He challenged the constitutional validity of MISA Act in the Supreme Court of India which resulted in section 9 of the MISA Act being struck down as unconstitutional. He was booked under the MISA and various other acts from 1973 to 1977. During The Emergency, he was arrested on 30 June 1975 and remained in Jail for 19 months continuously.

He was appointed the State Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad after the Emergency. From 1977 to 1986, he held various leadership positions in the ABVP. During his tenure at ABVP he led a movement against the declaration of Urdu as the second language of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Concerned about the issue of foreign infiltration from Bangladesh in the bordering districts of Bihar he raised the issue and after Assam, a movement against foreign infiltrators was launched in Bihar under his leadership.

Political career

Sushil Modi addressing a rally in Nayagaon, Sonpur in 2015

In 1990, he joined active politics and successfully contested from Patna Central Assembly (now known as Kumhrar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)).[12] He was re-elected in 1995 & 2000. In 1990, he was made the Chief Whip of the BJP Bihar Legislature Party. From 1996 until 2004 he was the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly. He filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Patna High Court against Lalu Prasad Yadav, which was later known as Fodder Scam. He became a member of Lok Sabha in 2004 representing the constituency of Bhagalpur.

Modi was the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in a short-lived Nitish Kumar government in 2000. He supported the formation of the State of Jharkhand.

In 2005 Bihar election, NDA came to power and Modi was elected the leader of Bihar BJP Legislature Party. He subsequently resigned from the Lok Sabha and took over as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. He was given the Finance Portfolio along with a number of other departments. After NDA victory in 2010 Bihar elections, he continued to be the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. Modi did not contest the 2005 and 2010 Bihar Assembly elections to be able to campaign for BJP.[13]

Sushil Modi with Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh at Hunkar Rally

In 2017, Sushil Modi was the main player behind the fall of the JDU-RJD Grand Alliance government in Bihar, with his continuous tirade against RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family for four months over his alleged benami properties and irregular financial transactions.[14]

Sushil Kumar Modi was Nitish Kumar’s deputy CM for around 11 years and the duo is often referred to as Ram-Laxman ki jodi in the political circles of Bihar.[15][16]

On 8 December 2020, he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar to fill the vacant seat after the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan. He became the only leader from Bihar to have been a member of the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly.[17]

Positions held

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar & Convener of the GoM, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi addressing a press conference after the 7th Meeting of the Group of Ministers on IT (GoM on IT) for GST Implementation, in New Delhi
Period Positions Note
1973–77 General Secretary, Patna University Students Union
1983–86 All India General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
1995–96 Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party
1996–2004 Leader of Opposition Bihar Legislative Assembly
2000 Minister, Parliamentary Affairs Government of Bihar
2004 Member, Lok Sabha 14th Lok Sabha
1990–2004 Member, Bihar Legislative Assembly 3rd term
November 2005 – June 2013 Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Chief Minister of Bihar was Nitish Kumar of JDU
November 2005 – June 2013[18] Finance Minister of Bihar Chief Minister of Bihar was Nitish Kumar of JDU
2013–2017 Leader of Opposition Bihar Legislative Council
2017– 13 November 2020 Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Chief Minister of Bihar was Nitish Kumar of JDU
7 December 2020 Member, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

See also

References

  1. "Bihar elections: Sushil Modi tops BJP's list of CM probables". Archived from the original on 11 July 2015.
  2. "Sushil Modi elected new chief of Empowered Committee on GST". The Hindu. 19 July 2011. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. "Upper castes, OBCs, Dalits and BJP". 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  4. "Sushil Kumar Modi(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):(BIHAR) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. "No 'band, baaja, baaraat' for SuMo son's wedding". The Times of India. 19 November 2017. Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. "Political way to nurture love". Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  7. "When Atal Bihari Vajpayee 'refused' to bless Sushil Kumar Modi". The Times of India. 18 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  8. Jacob, George (13 October 2017). "Sushil Kumar Modi has a family foothold here". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  9. "Cool leaders see off 2012 with relatives Most ministers retire to bed before midnight, Bhim Singh stays up late". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  10. Official Website Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi "Profile of Shri Sushil Kumar Modi". Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2011. Early Years in Public Life
  11. Profile of Deputy Chief Minister 1971 Archived 16 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Early Years in Public Life
  12. "BJP's Vote Winner Profile of Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar". Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Minorities may be allergic to the BJP, but not to me". Archived from the original on 20 June 2015.
  14. "SuMo: Architect of grand alliance fall". The Times of India. 27 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  15. "Tarkishore Prasad: BJP's Tar Kishore Prasad, Renu Devi to be Bihar's deputy CMS | Patna News - Times of India". The Times of India. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  16. "End of the road for Nitish's 'Laxman' in Bihar — Sushil Modi unlikely to return as deputy CM". 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  17. "Sushil Modi gets elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 7 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  18. "JD(U) ends 17-year-old marriage with BJP, Bihar CM axes 11 ministers | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
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