Sushil Kumar Modi, the deputy chief minister of Bihar and a senior BJP politician, who very often sounds more like a personal assistant of Bihar’s incumbent CM than a BJP executive, has asked the people of Bihar to vote for Nitish Kumar.
“Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister and Nitish Kumar as the CM candidate… So we have two faces, Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar,” said Sushil Modi in an interview with The Indian Express. “We are fighting the elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and the achievements of the Central and state government,” he added.
In order to please Nitish Kumar, who keeps his and Sushil’s position intact- as CM and Deputy CM- Sushil Kumar is ready to irk BJP’s cadre, as well as important allies such as Chirag Paswan, led LJP. He has repeatedly attacked Chirag Paswan for criticizing Nitish Kumar and sounded like a loyal assistant of Bihar CM rather than a BJP politician.
It seems that Sushil Modi is not happy with the meritorious rise of Chirag Paswan in NDA and is insecure. So far, he has ensured that not a single youth BJP leader emerges from Bihar BJP, despite being the visible face of its Bihar unit, to keep his chair safe. Now, he is attacking NDA leaders also and trying to corner them so that he does not lose the chair after the next election. He wants the status quo to be maintained so that Nitish Kumar becomes CM again and he gets the Deputy chair.
Sushil Modi is blocking the leaders, both old horses, and the young Turks to take the centre stage. Given the fact, Sushil Kumar is not popular among the voters if an independent leader rises as a popular alternative; it will be a threat to Sushil Modi’s position as the tallest leader of BJP in the state.
Therefore to maintain the status quo in the state, as it secures the position of Nitish Kumar as well as his own, Sushil Kumar has showered praises on Nitish Kumar even when other state BJP leaders have openly spoken against him.
Sushil Kumar has done immense damage to BJP’s cause in the state. He is the top leader of BJP in the state since the last one and a half-decade, and due to him, the second rung of BJP has not emerged so far in the state. Sushil Modi is a silent yet constant reminder to BJP that its fortunes in Bihar would not improve till he is kicked-out.
The Nitish Kumar government, to which Sushil Modi is also a member, failed miserably in managing almost every problem faced by the state in the last few years. The pathetic handling of the migrant crisis, divisive remarks on the passing of CAB, last year’s floods, and the baby deaths; the list of the failures of Nitish Kumar government just goes on and on. But all these incidents have been swept under the rug by none other than Sushil Kumar Modi who is acting up as the last wall of defence that is helping Nitish hold his fort.
While it is expected from Nitish who has a brain-fade now and then, what has been surprising in all these episodes is the undying fidelity of Sushil Modi towards Kumar.
His duty towards the coalition aside, Sushil Kumar Modi was also given the responsibility to create an independent identity of BJP in the state that is devoid of any influence of Nitish Kumar. Sadly, Sushil Modi has been a huge failure in that department. As long as Sushil Modi remains active in Bihar’s politics and is on BJP’s side, the independent rise of the saffron party is impossible because he is Kumar’s loyal assistant first and then a BJP politician.