New Delhi: On the first death anniversary Tuesday of senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi, who was seen as having played a pivotal role in shaping the state’s political environment, his colleague Ashwini Choubey dropped a bombshell—he said Modi “died early due to ill-treatment by a senior party leader”.
Speaking at a public function organised to remember Modi at IGIMS in Patna, Choubey also rued that Modi, who died of cancer aged 72, could not become the chief minister of Bihar because of caste politics. Modi had held the post of deputy chief minister and state minister.
“He (Modi) was in deep pain due to the treatment meted out by a senior leader. The pain given by the senior leader affected his health, and he got cancer and died. Those who once cried before him insulted him later,” said Choubey, a former Bihar minister himself, without taking any names.
“Sushil Modi did not become the chief minister of Bihar because he did not fit into the Luv-Kush social coalition (dominant Other Backward Class groups) and the Yadav-Muslim political equation of Bihar,” he added, claiming that “Sushil Modi shared his pain with me, and I wiped his tears”.
“Today, he is no longer with us, but his soul is watching everything,” said Choubey.
Speaking to ThePrint Thursday, Choubey recalled a meeting of early 2000s when it was decided that Modi could lead Bihar. He also asserted that Modi was like a brother to him.
“There was a small meeting where Kailashpati Mishra, Tarakant Jha, Sushil Modi, Shatrughan Sinha and I were present. (Atal Bihari) Vajpayeeji wanted to know who should lead the party in Bihar. Every leader gave their suggestion,” he said.
“I told Vajpayeeji that a young leader should be promoted who knows Bihar and comes from the JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement. Shatrughan Sinha and I agreed to work under Sushil Modi. He could be the chief minister. Later, some people in the party tried to create differences between Sushilji and me, but our relationship was like that of brothers,” he added.
Choubey further said that “when Sushil Modi was cornered, I sensed his pain and agony. On one occasion, I wiped his tears”. He was a tall leader of the BJP, but the party did not treat him with the respect he deserved”.
Speaking to ThePrint about Choubey, BJP sources said he has been sour with the party for various reasons and is thus looking for ways to create trouble, especially by damaging the upper caste vote ahead of the Bihar polls.
“Choubey is a prominent Brahmin leader and can vitiate the political atmosphere before the Bihar assembly polls. At a time when the BJP wants to consolidate the Vaishya vote by underlining Modi’s legacy, Choubey has punctured the narrative by saying that the late leader was humiliated in his time,” a BJP leader told ThePrint.
“This way, Choubey is taking revenge and pressuring the leadership to accommodate him and his son in the assembly polls,” he added.
The BJP too had organised a function Tuesday to remember Modi’s contributions to public life and the party but, significantly, Choubey was not invited to it. In attendance were state unit president Dilip Jaiswal, both deputy chief ministers of Bihar, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha, and a host of senior leaders.
Chaubey was also not invited to a separate function organised in Modi’s remembrance by the Bihar government, where the BJP is a partner. Here, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that the state would every year officially mark Modi’s death anniversary, and that a statue would be installed in his honour.
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Choubey bats for Modi
Sushil Modi started his political career as a student activist and was active in the JP movement in the 1970s. He was credited for the BJP’s rise in Bihar and became one of the state’s tallest leaders after the late Kailashpati Mishra.
He was also known for making the BJP an aggressive opposition party during Lalu Prasad’s regime in Bihar and later became Nitish Kumar’s deputy when the BJP allied with him. He helped maintain a smooth working relationship with Nitish during the Advani-Vajpayee era.
However, when Narendra Modi and Amit Shah took leadership of the BJP, Modi’s clout began to decline. After the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, he was not picked for the deputy CM’s post. Later, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha but was not included in the Union Cabinet, despite his work in shaping BJP’s politics in Bihar.
Speaking at Tuesday’s event, Choubey said Lalu became Bihar CM through the Yadav-Muslim vote-base, while Nitish rose through the Luv-Kush social chemistry. “It’s very sad that despite BJP being a strong party in Bihar, there has been no CM from the party in the state,” he said.
On Modi’s demise last year, Choubey had cried openly and termed him a brother. “Sushil Modi was not just my friend but my brother. I have lost my brother today, and I cannot explain the pain. He was very humble and had a charitable heart. He worked with dedication for the party. If he ever got angry at someone, he would later calmly say ‘I scolded that man to correct his habits’,” he told the media.
‘Taking revenge’
The BJP last year denied Choubey a Lok Sabha ticket from Buxar, following which he has been seen as creating controversy for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
On the ticket denial, he had suggested that he had been sidelined for being a Brahmin.
“My only fault was that I belong to the Parshuram (Brahmin) community. I never asked for anything. I never extended my hand. I am a fakir (beggar), and I want to draw such a line. My only fault is that I am a descendant of Parshuram. I am a self-respecting Brahmin. I am a ritualistic Brahmin. I am not without sanskar (tradition), and I can never leave my values,” Choubey said publicly.
“I am not going to change colour like a chameleon. I have only one colour—saffron. This saffron colour will remain on my body till my last breath. I am not a party-changer. I am Ram’s man, and I will work for Ram,” he added.
BJP sources said that once Mithilesh Tiwari was fielded from Buxar as the party’s Lok Sabha candidate, the high command had promised to elevate Choubey as governor. However, Choubey’s supporters did not work for Tiwari, which led to the BJP’s defeat in Buxar.
“Since then, Choubey has used every opportunity to create trouble for the BJP and take revenge,” said a source.
Just last month, Choubey proposed that “Nitish Kumar should be elevated as deputy prime minister of India due to his contribution to the NDA”.
“Nitish Kumar has played the role of coordinator with the NDA for a long time. If he is given the status of deputy prime minister, it will be a matter of pride for Bihar,” he argued.
The idea did not go down well with the ruling coalition in Bihar and Nitish’s JD(U) was prompt in response. “Nitish Kumar will be CM again, and Bihar needs Nitish Kumar,” the party spokesperson told the media.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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