Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi held on to his job as Deputy Chief Minister after an unprecedented secret ballot, allowed by the party leadership, showed he enjoyed support of majority party MLAs and MLCs in the state.

While senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu told The Indian Express that “Modi got a clear majority when the votes were counted”, the rebels claimed Modi just about survived with 32 votes against him, 35 for him, two absentees. Naidu and Sushma Swaraj were the two observers for the vote. BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal was also called in for the counting.

The Bihar legislators (55 MLAs and 14 MLCs) were asked whether they had confidence in the present leadership and who would their choice be “if they wanted a change”. Most of the pro-change legislators said “they wanted the new name to be settled by the central leadership”.

The trouble in BJP’s Bihar unit erupted last month after a cabinet reshuffle saw some BJP ministers being dropped. After today’s vote, the rebels said they were down but not out. But the big worry for the party is that the secret ballot for Bihar may result in similar demands from other states to decide leadership issues.

But Modi, in an exclusive interview to The Indian Express, said he would go that extra mile to set the Bihar house in order. Excerpts:

•Are you happy that a secret ballot vote had to be used to decide your future? Even the central BJP was divided over Bihar...

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