Indian politician (1952?2024)
Sushil Kumar Modi
(5 January 1952 ? 13 May 2024) was an Indian politician from the
Bharatiya Janata Party
who was a
Member of Parliament
in the
Rajya Sabha
from
Bihar
. He was a
Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
as well as the
Finance Minister of Bihar
from 2005 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020.
[1]
[2]
He was 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.
[3]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Sushil Modi was born on 5 January 1952. He was born to Moti Lal Modi and Ratna Devi.
[4]
He attended
Patna Science College
and graduated with a
B.Sc.
(Hons) Botany degree in 1973. He enrolled in the
M.Sc.
Botany Course at
Patna University
but left the course midway to join the social movement started by
Jai Prakash Narayan
.
[5]
Modi married Jessie George on 13 August 1986, a Christian Keralite hailing from
Mumbai
.
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Modi and Jessy were classmates during their research studies. During this time, they fell in love and decided to get married.
His wife was a college professor, with whom he had two sons, Utkarsh Tathagat and Akshay Amritanshu.
[10]
[11]
Early political career
[
edit
]
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.
[12]
[13]
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.
Modi 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 illegal migration from
Bangladesh
in the bordering districts of
Bihar
he raised the issue and after
Assam Movement
, a movement against illegal migration was launched in Bihar under his leadership.
Political career
[
edit
]
In 1990, he joined active politics and successfully contested from Patna Central Assembly (now known as
Kumhrar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
).
[14]
He was re-elected in 1995 and 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 the
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.
[15]
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.
[16]
Sushil Kumar Modi was
Nitish Kumar
’s deputy Chief Minister for 11 years and the duo was often referred to as
Ram
-
Laxman
ki jodi
in the political circles of Bihar.
[17]
[18]
On 8 December 2020, he was elected unopposed to the
Rajya Sabha
from
Bihar
to fill the vacant seat after
Ram Vilas Paswan
's death. He became one of the few Indian leaders to have been a member of both the Rajya Sabha and the
Lok Sabha
? both houses of the legislature.
[19]
Political views
[
edit
]
Modi was opposed to efforts to legalize
same-sex marriage
in India
, describing supporters as "left-liberals” who want to “imitate the West and impose such laws" on the Indian public.
[20]
Modi argued that legalizing same-sex marriage in India would "cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country".
[21]
Illness and death
[
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]
On 3 April 2024, Modi revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer six months previously, and would not take part in the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign for the 2024 general election. He died after a prolonged battle with cancer on 13 May 2024, at the age of 72.
[22]
[23]
According to
Narendra Modi
"He has played an invaluable role in the rise and success of BJP in Bihar".
[23]
Positions held
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Sushil Kumar Modi passes away at 72: All you need to know about the veteran Bihar leader"
.
The Times of India
. 13 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 14 May 2024
. Retrieved
14 May
2024
.
- ^
"Bihar elections: Sushil Modi tops BJP's list of CM probables"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 July 2015.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Upper castes, OBCs, Dalits and BJP"
. 4 April 2014.
Archived
from the original on 24 September 2015
. Retrieved
13 June
2015
.
- ^
"Sushil Kumar Modi(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):(BIHAR) - Affidavit Information of Candidate"
.
Archived
from the original on 14 January 2022
. Retrieved
14 January
2022
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Political way to nurture love"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 August 2017
. Retrieved
24 September
2015
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?? ?????, ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??????"
. 28 July 2017.
Archived
from the original on 14 May 2024
. Retrieved
31 May
2020
.
- ^
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
- ^
Profile of Deputy Chief Minister 1971
[1]
Archived
16 February 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
Early Years in Public Life
- ^
"BJP's Vote Winner Profile of Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar"
. 7 May 2011.
Archived
from the original on 3 October 2015
. Retrieved
17 October
2015
.
- ^
"Minorities may be allergic to the BJP, but not to me"
. Archived from
the original
on 20 June 2015.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
Mehrotra, Karishma; Shih, Gerry (14 March 2023).
"Indian government opposes same-sex marriage, warns of countrywide 'havoc'
"
.
The Washington Post
.
Archived
from the original on 14 March 2023
. Retrieved
3 April
2024
.
- ^
"Same-sex marriage: BJP opposed, MP Sushil Modi said, 'will play havoc with personal laws'
"
.
The Indian Express
. 17 October 2023.
Archived
from the original on 4 April 2024
. Retrieved
4 April
2024
.
- ^
"Sushil Kumar Modi passes away at 72: All you need to know about the veteran Bihar leader"
.
The Times of India
. 13 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 14 May 2024
. Retrieved
14 May
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Ex-Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi dies, was diagnosed with cancer"
. 13 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 14 May 2024
. Retrieved
13 May
2024
.
- ^
"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
.
External links
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]