Sushil Kumar Modi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sushil Kumar Modi
Modi in 2015
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 7 December 2020 – 2 April 2024
Preceded by	Ram Vilas Paswan
Succeeded by	Dharamsheila Gupta
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 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	(1952-01-05)5 January 1952 Patna, Bihar, India
Died	13 May 2024(2024-05-13) (aged 72) Patna, Bihar, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Jessie George ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	2
Residences	Patna, Bihar, India
Alma mater	Patna University

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. 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.

Early life and education

Sushil Modi was born on 5 January 1952. He was born to Moti Lal Modi and Ratna Devi. 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.

Modi married Jessie George on 13 August 1986, a Christian Keralite hailing from Mumbai. 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.

Sushil Modi performs Yoga, on the occasion of the 4th International Day of Yoga 2018 along with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ram Kripal Yadav

Early political career

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. 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.

Political career

Sushil Modi addressing a rally in Nayagaon, Sonpur in 2015

In 1990, he joined active politics and successfully contested from Patna Central Assembly (now known as Kumhrar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)). 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.

Sushil Modi with Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh at Hunkar Rally

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.

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.

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.

Political views

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. Modi argued that legalizing same-sex marriage in India would "cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country".

Illness and death

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. According to Narendra Modi "He has played an invaluable role in the rise and success of BJP in Bihar".

Positions held

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar & Convener of the GoM, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi addressing a press conference after the 7th Meeting of the Group of Ministers on IT (GoM on IT) for GST Implementation, in New Delhi

See also

• List of finance ministers of Bihar
• List of deputy chief ministers of Bihar
• List of politicians from Bihar