The BJP’s move to drop Sushil Kumar Modi as the leader of its Legislature Party in Bihar did not surprise its political watchers. After the saffron party emerged as big brother in the NDA coalition following the Vidhan Sabha polls, the status quo in the BJP-JD (U) political equation was expected to take a hit.
Modi has served as Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister for 15 years since 2005, except for a brief interval when Nitish Kumar handed over the CM post to Jitan Ram Manjhi and later when he sided with the RJD.
Both Modi and Kumar have known each other since 1973, when both of them fought the then Congress government together as student leaders and were eventually jailed during the Emergency. This long association was the reason behind their fine chemistry, which helped in the smooth functioning of the government despite both coming from two totally different ideological outfits.
The…