Patna: Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi was on Monday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in a by-poll that was necessitated by the death of Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan.
Modi was handed over his certificate in presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, with whom the former is known to enjoy an excellent rapport, his successors, Deputy CM Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi and state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal.
Modi was declared elected unchallenged on the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers.
With his election to the Rajya Sabha, Modi has come to hold the rare distinction of having been a member of both Houses of parliament as well as the bicameral legislature in the state.
Sushil Modi has become the only well-known leader from Bihar to have achieved the “feat” after his bête noire Lalu Prasad.
Also read: The Alacrity of Sushil Modi’s Removal Doesn’t Bode Well for BJP in Bihar
In addition to the former Deputy CM, only an Independent candidate Shyam Nandan Prasad had filed his nomination papers which were rejected during scrutiny since he could not garner support of at least 10 members of the 243-strong assembly which was mandatory, poll officials said.
Coming out of the office of Patna Commissioner after collecting his certificate, Sushil Modi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other central leaders of his party for giving him opportunity to serve people of Bihar in different capacity.
Talking to reporters, Modi said he would continue to work for the development of Bihar by pursuing its interests as a member of Rajya Sabha.
Since November 2005 when he first became the Deputy CM, Modi has been a member of the legislative council.
He had returned to state politics giving up his Lok Sabha seat of Bhagalpur which he had won in the 2004 general elections.