Lucknow, 26 Aug (HS): On Tuesday, the opposition's vice

presidential candidate, B Sudershan Reddy, expressed gratitude that others who

are not part of the INDIA bloc are also stepping out to assist him. Reddy also urged members of all political

parties to go above party boundaries and evaluate his candidacy on the basis of

merit and principles. You are already

aware that the opposition has placed its faith in me and that I have been

picked as the candidate. I am happy that

not just the INDIA alliance, but also others outside the alliance, are stepping

up to assist. But this would not have been possible without my buddy Akhilesh

Yadav, he added at a conference held at the Samajwadi Party headquarters in the

presence of the SP chief and Congress leaders.

He didn't go into detail about who those folks were, though.

Reddy further

claimed that he met with AAP Leader Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and Tamil Nadu

Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai. Reddy refused to expound on Union Home

Minister Amit Shah's claim that he backed Naxalism. When challenged about

Shah's comments, he replied, They are attempting to construct a

narrative. Whatever answer I have, I have given it. You must have seen

today's newspapers. I have said everything that needs to be said; I do not

desire to further the argument or say anything, he continued. I will not

discuss political concerns since this (Vice President) job is not political, he

stated.

Speaking in Kerala

on Friday, Shah stated that Sudershan Reddy aided Naxalism. He handed his

verdict to Salwa Judum. If the Salwa Judum verdict had not been issued, Naxal

terrorism would have stopped by 2020. He is a person who was influenced by the ideas

that led to Salwa Judam's verdict. Reddy

stated on Saturday that he did not want to get into a fight with the home

minister, claiming that the ruling was the Supreme Court's, not his.

He further stated that Shah would not have made any statements if he had read

the entire ruling. Reddy, along with Justice S S Nijjar, was a member of the

Supreme Court panel that ordered Salwa Judum's disbandment in July 2011, saying

that deploying tribal adolescents as Special Police Officers in the war against

Maoist rebels was unlawful and unconstitutional.

The opposition

candidate emphasized that the position of vice president is a constitutional

office. Some of you may wonder why I have entered the political arena. I assert

that I have not entered politics; this is a high constitutional position. It

has previously been held by philosophers, national leaders, and educators,

including Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Husain, Dr K R Narayanan, and,

most recently, Shri Hamid Ansari ji. They inspire me. He expressed gratitude to

the opposition parties for selecting him to continue the journey they had

previously trodden. Reddy stated that he was continuously speaking with Members

of Parliament and interacted with the media on a regular basis.

I don't have to explain

why I'm here. I've come to seek the help of UP MPs. I feel the office of Vice

President, which comes straight after the President, is not a political

position. It is a high constitutional position, he stated. I sincerely believe in constitutional ideals

and guarantee the people that I will continue to protect them, he continued.

Reddy thanked Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, stating

that he learned a lot from them. We have learned a lot from Lohia ji and

Netaji. However, I am from South India and have never studied how to deliver a

speech in Hindi. He stated that whenever he visits UP, he makes an effort to

talk in Hindi and would continue to do so.

The ground is set

for a straight struggle between governing NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan and

joint opposition candidate Reddy in the September 9 vice-presidential election,

which is being billed as a south vs south battle because both are from south

India. Radhakrishnan is a BJP veteran from Tamil Nadu, while Reddy is a former

Supreme Court judge from Telangana. The opposition has framed the

vice-presidential election, prompted by Jagdeep Dhankhar's recent resignation,

as an ideological war, despite the fact that the numbers are stacked in favour

of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Reddy (79), who resigned from the Supreme Court in July 2011, is a seasoned

jurist recognized for numerous landmark decisions criticizing the then-Union

government for being lax in investigating blackmoney cases.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi