Sushil Kumar Modi death: Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, 72, died at Delhi AIIMS on Monday. He was diagnosed with cancer. Modi was once considered a close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Earlier on April 3, he disclosed that he was diagnosed with cancer six months ago and, as a result, would not be participating in the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign. Modi, 72, was previously listed by the BJP as one of its star campaigners for the state and was also named a member of its election manifesto committee. "I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it. I will not be able to do anything for Lok Sabha elections," he posted on X. "I have told everything to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will always remain grateful and dedicated to the country, Bihar and the party," he wrote, eliciting a barrage of replies and wishes from his party colleagues, his supporters and leaders from different political parties.
Who was Sushil Modi?
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, who later came to be his biggest political rival, was the president of the union at that time. During his political career spanning over three decades, Sushil Kumar Modi held various positions, including MLA, MLC and member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He served as the deputy CM of Bihar from 2005 to 2013, and again from 2017 to 2020.
Modi became an MLA for the first time in 1990 from Patna Central constituency and was made the chief whip of the BJP legislature party.
From 1996 to 2004, he was the leader of the opposition in the state assembly. He became a member of Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur in 2004. He gave up his Lok Sabha membership in 2005 and became a member of the legislative council, following which he was made the deputy chief minister with Nitish Kumar as the CM. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2020, and retired earlier this year.
