Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 19: Like the NDA attempted to embarrass the opposition bloc by picking a BJP leader from Tamil Nadu as its vice-presidential choice, the opposition INDIA block likewise on Tuesday announced the candidature of a former Supreme Court judge from Andhra Pradesh as its nominee for the second highest constitutional post in the country.
However, for the time being, both the blocs have remained intact with the Telegu Desam Party (TDP), the ruling party of Andhra, announcing its decision to continue to support the NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan, currently the governor of Maharashtra, just as the DMK on Monday had refused to fall prey to the NDA move and had stated that the support would be decided on political choice and not on the basis of language. It had decided to stay in the INDIA bloc and announced its support for Mr B. Sudershan Reddy in the vice-presidential elections.
The decision on Mr Reddy was taken unanimously, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a press conference on Tuesday. Leaders belonging to INDIA bloc too took part in the press conference held in New Delhi.
Two faces from South Indian are facing each other, putting regional parties in a tough spot. Hours after the INDIA Opposition bloc announced Mr Reddy as its candidate for the Vice Presidential election, key BJP ally TDP said there was “no ambiguity” regarding its choice. The Opposition hopes its choice of the Andhra Pradesh-born judge would put the N Chandrababu Naidu-led party in a spot, as language is an emotive issue in the southern state. Whether this tactic yields dividends for the INDIA bloc will be seen in the days to come, but the TDP has sent a message of NDA unity for now.
“No ambiguity – only warmth, respect, and resolve. The NDA stands united,” Mr Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh, who is TDP’s general secretary and Andhra Pradesh minister, said in a post on X. Mr Lokesh recently met NDA’s choice CP Radhakrishnan and congratulated him.
Hoping to turn the tables after the BJP created a dilemma for the INDIA ally DMK by naming a Tamil leader for the Vice President election, the Opposition bloc today named Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy as its candidate for the September 9 election. The move was aimed at seeking all-round support, including from Telugu heartland parties not aligned with the Opposition.
A key target was the TDP, an important ally for the BJP whose support ensured the Narendra Modi government’s third term after the Lok Sabha election last year. The TDP now faced the question the DMK faced — will it vote against the local candidate and stick to the NDA brief? The DMK has tackled this pressure and made its stand clear. The BJP’s choice of Mr Radhakrishnan, DMK has said, must be viewed politically, not through the prism of language. Now the TDP, too, has signalled that it stands with the NDA and has no doubt about its pick.
This vice-presidential contest is an ideological battle, and all the opposition parties agreed on this, and this is the reason we have nominated B Sudershan Reddy as the joint candidate…,” Mr Kharge said. The AAP, which is not part of INDIA Bloc, has also reportedly supported his candidature.
Calling Justice (Retd.) Reddy, as one of India’s most distinguished and progressive jurists, Mr Kharge added: “He has been a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice. He is a poor man, and many judgments if you read, will know that how he favoured the poor people and also protected the Constitution and fundamental rights.”
Justice Reddy (retd) was born on July 8, 1946, to a farmer family in Akula Mylaram village of then Ibrahimpatnam taluka in the Rangareddy district of present-day Telangana. He had graduated in law from Osmania University. He became an additional judge in Andhra Pradesh High Court in 1993. He served as a Supreme Court judge between 2007 and 2011, for four-and-a-half years. He had rendered several landmark judgments on various branches of law, in particular on issues of criminal jurisprudence, Constitution, taxation, service law and human rights.
He served as Goa’s first Lokayukta, but subsequently resigned within seven months. He had also served as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court until he became a Supreme Court judge. Besides serving as Lokayukta of Goa, he was also the head of the Human Rights Commission, and had led the caste survey committee in Telangana. The Vice-President election is scheduled to be held on September 9 and the last date to file nomination is on August 21.
Going by the numbers, the BJP appears to have an edge in the Vice Presidential election. The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The current electoral college, excluding the vacancies, has 787 members including both Houses. This means that the winning side needs to have at least 394 votes.
The current situation favours Radhakrishnan, as the BJP-led NDA has 422 MPs, including nominated members who are likely to support the NDA nominee. The NDA’s tally includes 293 MPs in the 542-member Lok Sabha and 129 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, where the effective strength of the House is currently 245. For the opposition, the polls remain a symbolic contest, as in the Vice-President elections of 2017 and 2022, since they lack the numbers.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien said all opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), are on board for Reddy’s candidature. The INDIA bloc’s current strength stands at around 300. The bloc includes the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), AAP and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
The INDIA bloc is also planning to reach out to Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party, which has 7 Rajya Sabha MPs and 5 Lok Sabha members. Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has 7 Rajya Sabha MPs and has supported the BJP in Parliament in the past, is yet to choose who it will support. However, even if the opposition manages to convince both Jagan Reddy and Naveen Patnaik, the gap remains too wide to bridge.
So, Radhakrishnan’s election as the next Vice President of India looks almost certain, unless an unexpected scenario emerges in which some BJP allies shift towards the INDIA bloc — a highly unlikely possibility.
The Opposition’s move to force a contest is largely an optics game to ensure that the BJP does not get a walkover. A contest, however tilted, will provide the Opposition to showcase its unity at a time when it is pushing hard to corner the government on the issue of alleged poll irregularities. Despite the BJP’s advantage, the Opposition’s choice of Mr Reddy has undoubtedly spiced up the Vice Presidential poll fight.
The choice of candidate was deliberate. The INDIA bloc needed someone who could represent two core values — a defender of the Constitution and a figure acceptable across parties. In Sudershan Reddy, they believe they have found both. Reddy has a long record of judgments upholding civil liberties. For the Opposition, this record makes him an ideal candidate to be projected as a protector of rights, a voice of the common citizen, and someone who stands firmly to ensure that “Samvidhan khatre mein nahin hai (Constitution is not in danger).”
The INDIA bloc also sees this election as an opportunity to contrast its choice with the ruling NDA’s nominee, CP Radhakrishnan. With Radhakrishnan’s long-standing links to the RSS, the Opposition plans to frame the election as a contest of ideas — a battle between defending the Constitution and endorsing an ideology they have consistently opposed. Radhakrishnan’s reference to the Prime Minister and Home Minister as “beloved” in his first remarks after being nominated has further sharpened the Opposition’s resolve to challenge him.
The decision to field Reddy has also had a ripple effect within the alliance. The Aam Aadmi Party, which had walked out of the INDIA bloc earlier, has agreed to come on board for this election, a move insiders say was facilitated by the Trinamool Congress. The Congress, meanwhile, hopes to exploit regional ties by persuading members of the YSR Congress, based in Reddy’s home state, to reconsider their support for the NDA. While the ruling coalition is confident of YSRCP’s backing, sources in the Opposition claim that conversations are ongoing to test the waters.
Beyond the immediate election, the INDIA bloc views this as the first major battle in the Rajya Sabha. Their hostility towards the outgoing Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar — against whom they had moved a failed impeachment notice — has carried forward into this contest. To them, starting their resistance by confronting another nominee with a strong RSS background is both strategic and symbolic.
For the INDIA bloc, therefore, this election is not just about numbers on the floor but about drawing a political line. By backing Sudershan Reddy, they are attempting to frame the contest as a referendum on the Constitution itself — and on the ideology they claim threatens it.
