Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi died at Delhi’s All-India Institute of Medical Sciences Monday evening. The 72-year-old was battling cancer and was admitted in the intensive care unit of AIIMS for the last one month.
The stalwart leader, once the BJP’s best-known face in Bihar, had opted out of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections also on account of his health. He had announced it on social media with a post on X, formerly Twitter, on April 3.
“I have been battling cancer for the last 6 months. Now I feel that the time has come to tell people. I will not be able to do anything in the Lok Sabha elections. I have told everything to the PM. Always grateful and always dedicated to the country, Bihar and the party,” his post read.
Politicians across party lines mourned him, calling his death “an irreparable loss” for Bihar politics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “saddened by” the death of his “valuable colleague in the party and my friend for decades, Sushil Modi. PM Modi credited him for the “rise and success of BJP in Bihar”.
Bihar has lost a great pioneer of politics forever, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “His politics was dedicated to the interests of the poor and the backward. The void that has emerged in Bihar politics due to his demise cannot be filled for a long time,” he posted on X.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condoled the death of his former deputy expressing “deep sorrow”. “He worked with me for a long time as deputy chief minister. I had a personal relationship with him. I have lost a true friend and a hard-working politician today,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.