India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped Deputy Chief Sushil Kumar Modi from the post he held in the outgoing ministry following the Bihar elections.
Modi took to Twitter to say that the BJP had given him a lot in his 40-year political career, adding that "no one can take away the post of a worker", and evoking a crisp response from his party colleague and junior federal minister Giriraj Singh.
"Respected Sushil ji, you are the leader, you had the post of Deputy Chief Minister, you will continue to remain the leader of BJP in the future as well, nobody's status is determined by the post he holds", Singh tweeted in Hindi.
The first major election in India during the pandemic was held for the Bihar legislative assembly in three phases, and the results were announced on 10 November.
The Nitish Kumar-led NDA alliance in Bihar will be sworn in on Monday. Sushil Kumar Modi had been deputy chief of the state since 2005, except for a brief period from 24 May 2014 to 22 February 2015.