Nitish Kumar Wants Sushil Modi As Deputy Again Amid Bihar Switch: Sources

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who was deputy to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) was in an alliance in the state, is wanted back in the state.

Nitish Kumar, 72, has decided to sack all ministers of alliance partner and Lalu Yadav's party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) tomorrow, sources said. After this, the Chief Minister will need a new deputy as his current deputy, the RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, will have to leave too, sources said.

With Nitish Kumar in direct talks with Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over returning to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, sources said he has been given a full say on deciding who will be his new deputy - and he chose Sushil Modi.

Whether Sushil Modi is amenable to the idea of him returning as the Bihar Chief Minister's deputy is not known at the moment.

Back when Sushil Modi was Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister, he had often faced barbs from the Opposition as "Nitish Kumar's man" for his public show of support for the Chief Minister.

Their camaraderie, borne out of a long work association (Sushil Modi has been Nitish Kumar's number two thrice), remained even when their parties were estranged.

There have been several instances when Nitish Kumar was under severe attack, including from senior BJP leaders over civic issues in the state capital Patna and dengue outbreak, but Sushil Modi had always intervened to dial down those attacks.

The BJP and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), have also finalised a seat-sharing agreement for the Lok Sabha election due in three months. All BJP MLAs in Bihar have already given letters of support to Nitish Kumar, sources have said.

These developments indicate the JD(U) chief - who dumped the BJP to join the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance in August 2022 - has crossed the point of no return in running the alliance government with the RJD and the Congress.

The Bihar Chief Minister will host a lunch tomorrow of JD(U) and BJP MLAs at his home, after which the MLAs of both the parties will go to the Governor to give their letters of support, sources said.

Nitish Kumar is likely to replace the sacked ministers from the RJD with BJP faces, sources said.