| Sushil Kumar Modi | |
| Birth Date: | 5 January 1952 |
| Birth Place: | Patna, Bihar, India |
| Death Place: | Patna, Bihar, India |
| Residence: | Patna, Bihar, India |
| Alma Mater: | Patna University |
| Party: | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Children: | 2 |
| Office: | Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha |
| Term Start: | 7 December 2020 |
| Term End: | 2 April 2024 |
| Constituency: | Bihar |
| Predecessor: | Ram Vilas Paswan |
| Successor: | Dharamsheila Gupta |
| Office1: | 4th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar |
| Term Start1: | 27 July 2017 |
| Term End1: | 16 November 2020 |
| Predecessor1: | Tejashwi Yadav |
| Successor1: | Renu Devi, Tarkishore Prasad |
| 1Blankname1: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata1: | Nitish Kumar |
| Term Start2: | 24 November 2005 |
| Term End2: | 16 June 2013 |
| Predecessor2: | Ram Jaipal Singh Yadav |
| Successor2: | Tejashwi Yadav |
| 1Blankname2: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata2: | Nitish Kumar |
| Office3: | Minister of Finance Government of Bihar |
| 1Blankname3: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata3: | Nitish Kumar |
| Term Start3: | 27 July 2017 |
| Term End3: | 16 November 2020 |
| Predecessor3: | Abdul Bari Siddiqui |
| Successor3: | Tarkishore Prasad |
| Term Start4: | 24 November 2005 |
| Term End4: | 16 June 2013 |
| Predecessor4: | Rabri Devi |
| Successor4: | Nitish Kumar |
| 1Blankname4: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata4: | Nitish Kumar |
| Office5: | Leader of the Opposition Bihar Legislative Council |
| 1Blankname5: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata5: | Nitish Kumar |
| Term Start5: | 19 June 2013 |
| Term End5: | 27 July 2017 |
| Predecessor5: | Ghulam Ghaus |
| Successor5: | Rabri Devi |
| Office6: | Member of Bihar Legislative Council |
| Term Start6: | 7 May 2006 |
| Term End6: | 11 December 2020 |
| Constituency6: | elected by the Members of Legislative Assembly |
| Successor6: | Shahnawaz Hussain |
| Office7: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Term Start7: | 2004 |
| Term End7: | 2005 |
| Predecessor7: | Subodh Ray |
| Successor7: | Syed Shahnawaz Hussain |
| Constituency7: | Bhagalpur |
| Office8: | Leader of the Opposition Bihar Legislative Assembly |
| 1Blankname8: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata8: | Lalu Prasad Yadav Rabri Devi |
| Term Start8: | 19 March 1996 |
| Term End8: | 28 March 2004 |
| Predecessor8: | Yashwant Sinha |
| Successor8: | Upendra Kushwaha |
| Office9: | Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly |
| Term Start9: | 1990 |
| Term End9: | 2004 |
| Constituency9: | Patna Central |
| Predecessor9: | Aquil Haider |
| Successor9: | Arun Kumar Sinha |
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]
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]
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.
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]
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]
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] During the Lok Sabha elections, he had revealed his illness on social media[24] .According to Narendra Modi "He has played an invaluable role in the rise and success of BJP in Bihar".
| 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 of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Patna Central |
| 1996–2004 | Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly |
| 2000 | Minister of Parliamentary Affairs |
| 2004–2005 | Member of Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur |
| 2006–2020 | Member of Bihar Legislative Council |
| 2005–2013 | Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar & Finance Minister of Bihar[25] |
| 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 |
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