NEW DELHI: BJP leader
Sushil Kumar Modi will not return as the deputy chief minister in the new
Nitish Kumar government, party sources said on Sunday.
While sources didn't confirm who will be the deputy chief minister in his place, there were reports earlier that BJP MLA from
Katihar Tarkishore Prasad
is likely to assume that role.
Prasad was elected as the party's leader in the state assembly today.
"I've been given this responsibility and I'll carry out the duty to the best of my ability," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI after being picked as the leader of
BJP legislature party
in
Bihar.
Asked if there will be two deputy chief ministers from BJP in Bihar, he said: "The party is deliberating on it. We will follow the directions of the party. I can't comment on it as of now."
Sushil Modi was the deputy chief minister in Nitish Kumar's previous cabinet and also the leader of BJP's legislature party in Bihar before the assembly elections.
Earlier, as reports of Sushil Kumar Modi's exit as the no.2 in Nitish government did the rounds, the BJP leader tweeted that no one can take away the post of a party worker.
"The BJP and the Sangh Parivar have given me a lot in the 40 years of my political life and perhaps no other person would have been given as much. I am willing to accept whatever responsibility comes my way in the future. No one can take away the post of a worker," Sushil Modi said on Twitter.