Sushil Kumar Modi Biography
Sushil Kumar Modi (5 January 1952 – 13 May 2024) was a Bharatiya Janata Party politician who served as a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar.
From 2005 to 2013, and from 2017 until 2020, he served as Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister.
He was a longtime member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In July 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for the Implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.
He died on May 13, 2024, following a prolonged fight with cancer.
Sushil Kumar Modi Profile | |
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
---|---|
In office 7 December 2020 – 13 May 2024 | |
Preceded by | Ram Vilas Paswan |
Succeeded by | TBA |
Constituency | Bihar |
4th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar | |
In office 27 July 2017 – 16 November 2020 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Tejashwi Yadav |
Succeeded by | Renu Devi, Tarkishore Prasad |
In office 24 November 2005 – 16 June 2013 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Karpoori Thakur |
Succeeded by | Tejashwi Yadav |
Minister of Finance Government of Bihar | |
In office 27 July 2017 – 16 November 2020 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Abdul Bari Siddiqui |
Succeeded by | Tarkishore Prasad |
In office 24 November 2005 – 16 June 2013 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Rabri Devi |
Succeeded by | Nitish Kumar |
Leader of the Opposition Bihar Legislative Council | |
In office 19 June 2013 – 27 July 2017 | |
Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
Preceded by | Ghulam Ghaus |
Succeeded by | Rabri Devi |
Member of Bihar Legislative Council | |
In office 7 May 2006 – 11 December 2020 | |
Appointed by | Members of the Legislative Assembly |
Succeeded by | Shahnawaz Hussain |
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
In office 2004–2005 | |
Preceded by | Subodh Ray |
Succeeded by | Syed Shahnawaz Hussain |
Constituency | Bhagalpur |
Leader of the Opposition Bihar Legislative Assembly | |
In office 19 March 1996 – 28 March 2004 | |
Chief Minister | Lalu Prasad Yadav Rabri Devi |
Preceded by | Yashwant Sinha |
Succeeded by | Upendra Kushwaha |
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly | |
In office 1990–2004 | |
Preceded by | Aquil Haider |
Succeeded by | Arun Kumar Sinha |
Constituency | Patna Central |
Personal details | |
Born | 5 January 1952 Patna, Bihar, India |
Died | 13 May 2024 (aged 72) New Delhi, India |
Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Spouse | Jessie George |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Patna, Bihar, India |
Alma mater | Patna University |
Website | www |
Sushil Kumar Modi’s Early Life and Education
Sushil Modi was born on January 5, 1952. He was born to Ratna Devi and Moti Lal Modi.
He graduated from Patna Science College with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Botany degree in 1973.
He studied in Patna University’s M.Sc. Botany studied but dropped out halfway through to join Jai Prakash Narayan’s social movement.
On August 13, 1986, Modi married Jessie George, a Christian Keralite from Mumbai.
Modi and Jessy were classmates during their research projects. During this period, they fell in love and decided to marry.
His wife was a college professor with whom he had two sons: Utkarsh Tathagat and Akshay Amritanshu.
On April 3, 2024, Modi stated that he had been diagnosed with cancer six months before and would not participate in the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign for the 2024 General Election.
Sushil Kumar Modi’s Early Political Career
Sushil Modi started his political career as a student activist at Patna University.
In 1973, he became general secretary of the Patna University Students’ Union, with Lalu Prasad Yadav, his eventual political nemesis, serving as President.
1974 he became a member of Bihar Pradesh Chaatra (Student) Sangharsh Samiti, which led the legendary Bihar Student’s Movement 1974.
Modi was detained five times between the JP Movement and the Emergency. He was arrested during Bihar’s 1974 student movement.
He challenged the constitutional validity of the MISA Act in the Supreme Court of India, which resulted in section 9 being declared unconstitutional. From 1973 to 1977, he was charged with MISA and other offenses.
During the Emergency, he was detained on June 30, 1975, and remained in jail for 19 months straight.
Following the Emergency, he was appointed as State Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
From 1977 to 1986, he held a variety of ABVP leadership posts. During his time with the ABVP, he spearheaded a campaign against the designation of Urdu as the second language of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Concerned about the issue of foreign infiltration from Bangladesh in the bordering regions of Bihar, he highlighted it, and after Assam, a movement against foreign infiltrators was initiated in Bihar under his leadership.
Sushil Kumar Modi’s Political Career
In 1990, he entered active politics and successfully ran for the Patna Central Assembly (now called Kumhrar (Vidhan Sabha constituency).
He was reelected in 1995 and 2000. 1990 he was appointed Chief Whip of the BJP Bihar Legislative Party.
From 1996 to 2004, he served as Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.
He filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Patna High Court against Lalu Prasad Yadav, which became known as the Fodder Scam.
In 2004, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing the Bhagalpur seat.
Modi served as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in Nitish Kumar’s short-lived cabinet in 2000.
He advocated the creation of the state of Jharkhand.
In the 2005 Bihar election, the NDA won power, and Modi was named leader of the Bihar BJP Legislature Party.
He then resigned from the Lok Sabha and became Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister.
He was assigned the Finance Portfolio along with several other divisions. He remained Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister following the NDA’s victory in the 2010 elections.
Modi did not contest the 2005 and 2010 Bihar Assembly elections to campaign for the BJP.
Sushil Modi was the driving force for the collapse of Bihar’s JDU-RJD Grand Alliance government in 2017, with a four-month rant against RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family over alleged benami assets and improper financial activities.
Sushil Kumar Modi served as Nitish Kumar’s deputy Chief Minister for 11 years, and the two were known as Ram-Laxman ki jodi in Bihar’s political circles.
On December 8, 2020, he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar to fill the vacancy caused by Ram Vilas Paswan’s death.
He became one of the few Indian leaders who had been a member of both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha both houses of the legislature.
Sushil Kumar Modi’s Political View
Modi was opposed to moves to legalize same-sex marriage in India, referring to proponents as “left-liberals” who seek to “imitate the West and impose such laws” on the Indian people.
Modi stated that allowing same-sex marriage in India would “cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country”
Sushil Kumar Modi dies at 72
Sushil Kumar Modi, a former Bihar deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader, died on Monday at the age of 72.
Modi had stated in April of this year that he was suffering from cancer and would not run in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections due to his bad health.
Sushil Kumar Modi’s positions held
Period | Positions | Note |
---|---|---|
1973–1977 | General Secretary, Patna University Students Union | |
1983–1986 | All India General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad | |
1995–1996 | 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[22] | 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 |