Sushil Kumar Modi | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Modi in 2015 | |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 7 December 2020 – 2 April 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Ram Vilas Paswan |
| Succeeded by | Dharamshila Gupta |
| Constituency | Bihar |
| 4thDeputy Chief Minister of Bihar | |
| In office 27 July 2017 – 16 November 2020 | |
| Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
| Preceded by | Tejashwi Yadav |
| Succeeded by | Tarkishore Prasad,Renu Devi |
| In office 24 November 2005 – 16 June 2013 | |
| Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
| Preceded by | Ram Jaipal Singh Yadav |
| 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 ofBihar Legislative Council | |
| In office 7 May 2006 – 11 December 2020 | |
| Succeeded by | Shahnawaz Hussain |
| Constituency | elected by the Members of Legislative Assembly |
| 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 ofBihar Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1990–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Aquil Haider |
| Succeeded by | Arun Kumar Sinha |
| Constituency | Patna Central |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-01-05)5 January 1952 |
| Died | 13 May 2024(2024-05-13) (aged 72) Patna, Bihar, India |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Patna,Bihar, India |
| Alma mater | Patna University |
| Website | www |
Sushil Kumar Modi (5 January 1952 – 13 May 2024) was an Indian politician from theBharatiya Janata Party who was aMember of Parliament in theRajya Sabha fromBihar. He was aDeputy Chief Minister of Bihar as well as theFinance Minister of Bihar from 2005 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020.[1][2] He was a lifelong member of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He was appointed the chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for the Implementation ofGoods and Service Tax in July 2011.[3] He was posthumously honored with thePadma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, by theGovernment of India.[4]
Sushil Modi was born on 5 January 1952. He was born to Moti Lal Modi and Ratna Devi.[5] He attendedPatna Science College and graduated with aB.Sc. (Hons) Botany degree in 1973. He enrolled in theM.Sc. Botany Course atPatna University but left the course midway to join the social movement started byJai Prakash Narayan.[6]
Modi married Jessie George on 13 August 1986, a Christian Keralite hailing fromMumbai.[7][8][9][10] 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.[11][12]
Sushil Modi's political career started as a student activist atPatna 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.[13][14] 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 ofMISA Act in theSupreme 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. DuringThe Emergency, he was arrested on 30 June 1975 and remained in Jail for 19 months continuously.
Modi was appointed the State Secretary of theAkhil 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 ofBihar andUttar Pradesh. Concerned about the issue of illegal migration fromBangladesh in the bordering districts ofBihar he raised the issue and afterAssam Movement, a movement against illegal migration was launched in Bihar under his leadership.
In 1990, he joined active politics and successfully contested from Patna Central Assembly (now known asKumhrar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)).[15] 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 thePatna High Court againstLalu Prasad Yadav, which was later known as theFodder Scam. He became a member of Lok Sabha in 2004 representing the constituency ofBhagalpur.
Modi was the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in a short-livedNitish Kumar government in 2000. He supported the formation of the State ofJharkhand.
In 2005 Bihar election,NDA came to power and Modi was elected the leader of Bihar BJP Legislature Party. He subsequently resigned from theLok Sabha and took over as theDeputy 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 theDeputy Chief Minister of Bihar. Modi did not contest the 2005 and 2010 Bihar Assembly elections to be able to campaign for BJP.[16]
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 allegedbenami properties and irregular financial transactions.[17]
Sushil Kumar Modi wasNitish Kumar’s deputy Chief Minister for 11 years and the duo was often referred to asRam-Laxman ki jodi in the political circles of Bihar.[18][19]
On 8 December 2020, he was elected unopposed to theRajya Sabha fromBihar to fill the vacant seat afterRam Vilas Paswan's death. He became one of the few Indian leaders to have been a member of both the Rajya Sabha and theLok Sabha — both houses of the legislature.[20]
Modi was opposed to efforts to legalizesame-sex marriagein India, describing supporters as "left-liberals” who want to “imitate the West and impose such laws" on the Indian public.[21] Modi argued that legalizing same-sex marriage in India would "cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country".[22]
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.[23][24] During the Lok Sabha elections, he had revealed his illness on social media[25] .According toNarendra Modi "He has played an invaluable role in the rise and success of BJP in Bihar".[24]
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| Period | Positions |
|---|---|
| 1973–1977 | General Secretary,Patna University Students Union |
| 1983–1986 | All India General Secretary,Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad |
| 1995–1996 | Secretary,Bharatiya Janata Party |
| 1990–2004 | Member ofBihar Legislative Assembly fromPatna Central |
| 1996–2004 | Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly |
| 2000 | Minister of Parliamentary Affairs |
| 2004–2005 | Member of Lok Sabha fromBhagalpur |
| 2006–2020 | Member ofBihar Legislative Council[26] |
| 2005–2013 | Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar &Finance Minister of Bihar[27] |
| 2013–2017 | Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council |
| 2017–2020 | Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar &Finance Minister of Bihar |
| 2020–2024 | Member,Rajya Sabha |
| Lok Sabha | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBhagalpur 2004 – 2006 | Succeeded by |