The selection of Tarkishore Prasad, Katihar’s four-time MLA, as the leader of the BJP legislative party has put a question mark on Sushil Kumar Modi’s role in the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar, who will be sworn in on Monday.
Prasad is being tipped to replace Sushil Kumar Modi as senior deputy minister, even as suspense over the BJP candidate for the post continues. “The candidate will be decided soon,” said Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who arrived as a party observer on Sunday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also said the name will be decided soon.
However, a senior BJP official confirmed that Prasad will be the deputy CM.
What has sparked the rumors about the possible new role of Modi, who was deputy finance minister and CM for almost 11 years, was that the central leadership of the BJP called him to New Delhi on Friday. On Sunday, he was all the time moving with the defense minister and was not seen with Nitish Kumar when he went to meet with the governor to demand the formation of the government.
Modi later congratulated both Prasad and Renu Devi, who was elected deputy leader of the party, and posted an emotional tweet. “The BJP and the Sangh Parivar gave me so much in 40-year political life that no other person would have gotten it. I will also fulfill the responsibility assigned to it. No one can take away the worker position, ”Modi tweeted.
Prasad, 64, is an intermediate pass from local DS College Katihar. He won a Katihar seat on a BJP ticket in October 2005 and has never lost the seat since. Prasad comes from RSS and held various positions in the organization before joining the BJP. He held the seat even in 2015, when JD-U had allied with the RJD and Congress.
“I have been given this responsibility and I will fulfill the duty to the best of my ability,” Prasad said after being elected leader of the BJP legislative party in Bihar. However, he declined to comment on the post of deputy CM. “I cannot comment on that as of now. Whatever responsibility comes, I will accept the challenge, ”he said.
Ranjit Kumar, a Manihari resident said: “Prasad held various posts in RSS and his rise in the BJP and in Bihar politics was due to his dedication to the party and the RSS.”
Katihar shares a border with West Bengal and experts believe it could be one of the reasons for her rise in the party ahead of the assembly elections in Bengal.
“The BJP wants to enter into West Bengal politics emphatically and therefore Tarkishore Prasad was elevated to the position of BJP leader in Bihar,” said political expert Naresh Kumar Srivasatava.
Prasad’s elevation has been widely acclaimed by the BJP bases in Seemanchal. “It is a matter of happiness that a leader from Seemanchal has been offered this coveted position in Bihar,” said Rakesh Kumar, BJP Purnia District President.
In Seemanchal, the BJP and its ally JD-U won 12 of the 24 seats, only the BJP won eight.
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