NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday condoled the demise of former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who passed away on Monday due to cancer. In a post on X, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "Received the sad news of the demise of former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Modi. May God give a place to the departed soul and give strength to his loved ones and supporters in this hour of grief."
The 72-year-old senior BJP leader passed away at AIIMS Hospital in Delhi. Sushil Modi announced his treatment last month and did not participate in the Lok Sabha election campaign. The last rites of the former Rajya Sabha MP will be performed later in the day.
On April 3, this year, Sushil Modi revealed he was suffering from cancer and requested the BJP to relieve him of assignments related to the Lok Sabha elections. In a post in Hindi on X, he said, "I have been battling with cancer for the last six months. I feel that now the time has come to make it public. I would not be able to do my work during the Lok Sabha polls. I have shared this with the PM. My gratitude to the country, Bihar and my party."
Over his three-decade-long political career, Modi played a pivotal role in shaping Bihar's political environment and held various positions. He served as an MLA, MLC and member of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The BJP leader was born on January 5, 1952, and began his political journey as a student activist at Patna University, where he served as the general secretary of the Students' Union in 1973.
He was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1990 from the Patna Central constituency, where he defeated sitting Congress legislator Akil Haider. He also served as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly from 1996 to 2004. In 2004, Sushil Modi was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur. Sushil Kumar Modi got 345,151 votes, with 45.6 per cent votes by defeating Communist Party of India (M) leader Subodh Ray.
Then later, he stepped down from his Lok Sabha post in 2005 to become a member of the legislative council and was appointed as the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister alongside Nitish Kumar. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar from 2005 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2020.