Oppn leaders sympathise with Sushil Modi, say he deserved a berth in union cabinet

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, is drawing sympathy and praise from his political adversaries, including those from the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress, who said he deserved a berth in the Union cabinet that was recently expanded

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, is drawing sympathy and praise from his political adversaries, including those from the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress, who said he deserved a berth in the Union cabinet that was recently expanded.

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“Sushil Modi is among the most experienced leaders and he deserved to be included in the Central government. It was because of his understanding about taxation and finance that the then UPA government had included him in the GST Council,” said Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra.

Though the RJD took potshot on Modi for targeting party chief Lalu Prasad and his family, party spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari said late Karpoori Thakur and he (Modi) were among the most deserving lot to represent Bihar for its development. “His (Modi’s) unrestrained bashing of Lalu Prasad and his family, which earned him some political success, could not help him get blessings of Narendra Modi,” Tiwari said.

“Sushil Modi missed the bus owing to his known proximity with the Bihar CM. He had in the past declared Nitish Kumar as PM material, much to the chagrin of Narendra Modi. Inclusion of JD(U) national president RCP Singh in the cabinet has already triggered an intense squabbling within the party,” Mishra said.

CPI(ML) legislator Amarjeet Kushwaha said that Bihar was a loser in what he said was a battle of nerves between Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. “Many senior leaders, including Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, Ramnath Thakur and Santosh Kushwaha, were eying their inclusion in the Union cabinet. Instead, Patna Saheb MP Ravi Shankar Prasad was booted out unceremoniously,” said the MLA.

A senior JD(U) leader, pleading anonymity, said induction of non-political leader as minister in the central government had put a question mark over stability of the government in Bihar. “Lalan Singh’s statement that party seniors were not taken into confidence for nomination of the minister speaks a lot about growing dissent in the JD(U) on the issue,” he said.