The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday named former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi its candidate for the bye-polls to a Rajya Sabha seat in the state.

The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after the demise of Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan on October 8. The bye-poll and the counting of votes will be held on December 14, reported News18.

Modi, who served as the deputy chief minister under Nitish Kumar, for 11 years, did not find a place in the newly-formed Cabinet in Bihar. The BJP named two of its leaders, Renu Kumari and Tarkishore Prasad, for the post.

Following the party’s decision, Modi had thanked the BJP and the Sangh Parivar for the opportunities he got. “I will carry out whatever responsibility is given to me,” he had tweeted. “The post of a party worker cannot be snatched.”

The BJP, meanwhile, denied the speculation that Modi was upset about not being included in Kumar’s Cabinet. “Sushil Modi is an asset to us,” former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP’s Bihar election in charge Devendra Fadnavis had said, adding that the party will give him a “new responsibility”.