NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday nominated former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for the Rajya Sabha by-elections from the state necessitated after the demise of former Union minister and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder Ram Vilas Paswan.
While the LJP was hoping to get a party nominee into the Rajya Sabha, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) didn’t want any truck with the Chirag Paswan-led outfit. With the BJP leaning towards Nitish’s side, the JD(U) appears to have won this round against the LJP.
The Rajya Sabha ticket is also a clear indication of the BJP taking Sushil Modi out of active politics at the state level, creating the ground for a role for him at the national level either in the government or the party.
It also indicates that the BJP wants to groom an alternative leadership in Bihar to expand its footprint by accommodating representatives of the extremely backward castes as a counter to the social base of the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal. The BJP had committed an RS seat for Ram Vilas Paswan in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections during its seat-sharing deal.