Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that the vice-presidential contest was an ideological battle
NEW DELHI — All Opposition parties have unanimously selected Justice B Sudershan Reddy, a former judge of the Supreme Court, as their vice-presidential candidate for the September 9 elections.
This was announced on Tuesday by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in the presence of leaders from various opposition parties. Earlier in the day, Opposition leaders including Sharad Pawar, Sanjay Raut, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Derek O’ Brien, Kanimozhi, Tiruchi Siva, John Brittas, Dharmendra Yadav, Pramod Tiwari, Rajani Patil and Arvind Sawant, met and unanimously agreed on the candidature of Justice Reddy. Aam Aadmi Party is also on board with the decision.
At a press conference along with opposition leaders at his residence, Kharge asserted that the vice-presidential contest was an ideological battle.
Sudershan Reddy is one of the country’s most distinguished and progressive jurists. He has had a long and eminent legal career including as judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Chief Justice of Guwahati High Court and judge of the Supreme Court. He has been a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice.
“He reflects the values that shaped our country’s freedom movement so profoundly, and the values on which our country’s Constitution and democracy have been anchored”, Kharge said.
All these values are under assault and, therefore, our collective and determined resolve to fight this election, he said.
Kharge said Justice Reddy will file his nomination on August 21.
Reddy’s selection is seen as a counter to the BJP candidate Radhakrishnan whose association with RSS is well known.
