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Bihar Elections 2015: A look at BJP's most reliable face in the state, Sushil Kumar Modi

Known as 'SuMo', he is a perfect face for the BJP in Bihar, never having embarrassed the party or falling into any controversy like Giriraj Singh or CP Thakur and is one of the BJP leaders termed as liberal and secular.

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Recently in the Swabhiman Rally on August 30, Lalu Yadav made a sarcastic comment on Sushil Kumar Modi, "When I was the president of the Student Union at Patna University, he (Sushil Modi) was my secretary and when Nitish Kumar became the chief minister, he was his 'stepney'. Now the 'stepney' has been thrown out." In his speech, only three names from BJP were mentioned and attacked repeatedly by Lalu - Narendra Modi and Amit Shah followed by Sushil Kumar Modi. It clearly signified Sushil Kumar Modi's prominence in Bihar politics.

If followers on social media are anything to go by, Sushil Kumar Modi can not be underrated. With 2.6 lakh followers on Twitter, his digital reach is more than double of frontline leaders Nitish and Lalu, both of whom lag behind at just close to 1 lakh at last count. On Facebook, Sushil Kumar Modi is inches behind Nitish Kumar with 8.1 lakh followers as compared to the chief minister's 8.7 lakh followers.

Sushil Kumar Modi's opponents often fail to correctly estimate his strengths. One of the many examples is an unprecedented secret ballot in June 2008 that was allowed by the BJP Central leadership against a request of change in leadership by a group of BJP MLAs. Sushil Modi managed to get majority of the votes and remained the deputy. 

Known as 'SuMo', he is a perfect face for the BJP in Bihar, never having embarrassed the party or falling into any controversy like Giriraj Singh or CP Thakur and is one of the BJP leaders termed as liberal and secular.

Similar to Nitish Kumar, Sushil Kumar Modi doesn't have any taint on his political image, nor is he accused of nepotism like Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Whether or not he is presented as the CM candidate from the BJP, in the event that his party manages to secure a majority, he would emerge as a strong contender. A part of the JP movement, Sushil Kumar Modi could have very well been one of the 55 young student-turned-MLAs like Paswan, Nitish and Lalu, but he chose not to be a part of the Janata Party and remained with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

In an interview with livemint he said, "I am a sipahi (soldier). I am a volunteer of the BJP for the last 40-45 years. Whatever role the BJP decides for me, I will gladly accept it. We don’t decide our roles on our own, it is the party which decides what role you have to play." 

Key Achievements

Sushil Kumar Modi single handedly lead the BJP campaign in the Bihar assembly elections in 2010 and got his party the best ever strike rate of 90%, winning 91 of the 102 seats the party contested. 

In the first term of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, he bargained for some crucial ministries like road, urban development, health and finance, with all of them giving excellent performance.

Key Failure

Despite his rock-solid performance within the BJP organisation and the eight years of Nitish-led NDA government in Bihar, he is critised for being confined within the comfort zone of Patna where he was born and lived throughout.  

Political Journey

As a Student Politician- 
1973-77: General Secretary, Patna University Students Union (arrested 5 times during the Emergency and JP movement, confined for 24 months)
1983-86: All India General Secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad

Mainstream Politics-
1990-2004: Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Patna Central assembly constituency
2004-2005: Member of Parliament from Bhagalpur 
2005-2013: Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Bihar
2013-now: Leader of opposition

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