Will Modi take note of the rise of Sushil Modi?
What will you do if your organisation picks your opponent for promotion, while denying it to you? Well, if you go by Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi’s example, you may choose to draw a bigger line and make everyone notice you.
For months — since BJP lost the Bihar Assembly polls in November 2015 — saffron party senior Sushil Modi has largely been seen as ignored by the BJP’s national leadership. He was denied the Rajya Sabha berth in 2016, which could have moved him to the Union Cabinet, adding deserving inches to his stature.
Instead, the BJP picked Modi’s bête-noire Gopal Narayan Singh for the Upper House, a move that surprised even Modi baiters. Also, Modi was apparently not consulted when the BJP picked Nityanand Rai as party state president in December last year. As expected, many Modi supporters were musing from the list of party office-bearers.
Rai picked for Bihar last month. Sushil Modi was conspicuously absent from the UP elections, with the BJP apparently choosing not to utilise his services there, although other state BJP leaders like Nand Kishore Yadav, Mangal Pandey and Nityanand Rai were invited to campaign in the state.
All this contributed to build an impression about the marginalisation of Sushil Modi in Bihar. But he has clearly bounced back in the last fortnight with his well-researched findings and targeted allegations against RJD boss Lalu Prasad and his family.
So indisputable has been Modi’s findings that Lalu had no option but to accept his family’s ownership over the land on which a mall — billed as Bihar’s biggest — is coming up in Patna, though he has insisted there was nothing illegal about it. Sushil Modi has successfully linked Lalu’s family to the mall being constructed near Saguna Mor, which according to him was being built for Rs 500 crore on a plot of land worth Rs 100 crore.
It took a few days for Lalu, but he finally had to admit that Rabri Devi, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav were partners in the company (Lara Projects LLP, which owns the land). Sushil stood somewhat vindicated, as there was no mention of Lara Projects LLP in the election affidavits and assets declarations by Tej Pratap and Tejashwi on either the Election Commission or state cabinet secretariat websites. Sushil Modi’s list of allegations against Lalu Prasad’s family has continued, with the BJP Legislature Party leader dropping a bomb almost every week.
Though it may not succeed in creating a split in the Bihar Grand Alliance government, Sushil Modi’s success stems from the fact that the BJP appears to have bounced back to relevance in Bihar, and even his political opponents are now taking the party seriously. More importantly, the RJD’s alliance partners — Congress and JD(U) — have opted not to jump to Lalu’s defence in the wake of Sushil Modi’s questions.
If chinks are now visible in the Grand Alliance, which hitherto appeared rock-solid in Bihar, both electorally and politically, the credit rests with Sushil Modi and his meticulous research. On the other hand, the high-flying Union ministers — who keep travelling to Bihar and make perfunctory allegations against the Nitish government — have failed to earn brownie points against the ruling Grand Alliance in the state.
Fighting alone — and with his back to the wall — is not unusual for Sushil Modi. He has been the unremitting leader of the Opposition for eight years during the Lalu-Rabri regime when most of NDA leaders preferred the comforts of national politics in Delhi.
Again, as a suave deputy CM in the Nitish government for eight years, Sushil Modi was largely credited for prudent fiscal management that contributed to Bihar’s turnaround. D URING the undivided NDA days, Sushil Modi had a wonderful understanding with Nitish Kumar.
He, however, quickly turned into a bitter Nitish critic the day JD(U) snapped ties with the BJP in June 2013.
But, clearly Sushil Modi turned a Narendra Modi supporter more belatedly than the likes of Giriraj Singh, someone given ministerial berth in the Union government — a decision apparently spurred by his loyalty rather than any proven capabilities. But will BJP leadership take note of its soldier now?
(Courtesy Mail Today)