Denied Dy CM post, something better in the offing for Sushil Modi?

Several ministers and sources said that Sushil Modi would likely be elevated to the Rajya Sabha and eventually made a Union Minister

Soon after the swearing-in of the Nitish Kumar Government was over at the sprawling Raj Bhawan here, all top leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Governor Phagu Chauhan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP president JP Nadda gathered for high tea.

Sushil Modi, who till November 15, was a shadow of Nitish and omnipresent at every NDA meeting, was present at the Raj Bhawan but preferred not to join the top leaders for the ‘chai pe charcha’. Instead, he sat with a group of legislators and strictly avoided the mediamen, who were rubbing shoulders and falling over each other to have a byte of Modi.

Read | At NDA’s swearing-in ceremony, Sushil Modi looked dejected

Modi’s silence said it all. Although top BJP leaders denied he was upset.

“Sushil Modi is not at all upset. He is an asset to us. And his services could be utilised by the Central leadership by giving him a new role in the coming days,” said former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, who was in the State Capital as one of the party observers.

The BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel too dropped ample hints that Modi may be elevated as a Union Minister not in the near future but sometime next year.

Also Read | Bihar: Nitish Kumar gets CM's chair, BJP lion's share in ministerial pie

“Sushil Modi is an asset to any organisation. The kind of grip he has on every subject, department or the ministry, is exemplary. Even in the organisational matters, one should learn from him how to have minute details of all the constituencies. I am sure the top party leadership will use his services as a Union Minister or chairman of any council,” said Patel, the three-term MLA from Suryagarha, who was denied ticket this time apparently for being too close to Modi.

Other sources in the BJP too concurred that Modi could be in for a bigger role at the Centre. “There is a Rajya Sabha berth vacant after the untimely demise of LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan. Paswan Ji was elevated to the Upper House from the BJP quota. So, obviously this seat will now go to the BJP. Modi Ji could be elevated to the Rajya Sabha and eventually as a Union Minister,” said the senior BJP functionary, wishing not to be identified.