New Delhi, September 8 (HS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has attacked the INDIA bloc’s vice-presidential candidate, retired Supreme Court Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, for invoking the call to save the soul of the nation while also meeting Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is convicted in the fodder scam. The BJP termed this as hypocrisy.

At a press conference held at the party headquarters on Monday, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Dr. Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Justice Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge contesting as the opposition’s candidate for the vice-presidential post, has appealed to the electorate saying, “Vote for me to save the nation’s soul.” However, he pointed out, Reddy’s visit to meet Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convicted politician, completely exposes the contradiction in his stand. “This is sheer hypocrisy. He should not talk about the nation’s soul while associating with those guilty of corruption,” Prasad asserted.

Highlighting Lalu Yadav’s record, Prasad said the RJD chief is not only convicted in the fodder scam but also faces charges relating to the alleged misuse of railway property during his tenure as Railway Minister. “We respect judges, whether serving or retired. But when a judge enters the political arena and makes lofty speeches, naturally questions will arise,” Prasad said.

Taking on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Prasad recalled an incident where a small farmer affected by heavy rains and floods sought to share his grievances about his ruined pea crop with Kharge. According to Prasad, Kharge dismissively retorted, “Why are you here? Why the drama? If your four acres were destroyed, mine 40 acres suffered damage too.” Prasad criticized this as arrogance, saying, “Kharge ji, this is not humility. A farmer came to you in pain. You are not just Karnataka’s leader but the national president of Congress. Is this how you respond to farmers?”

Prasad also accused the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh of betraying public trust by reversing the pay hike granted to state employees in September 2022 under the BJP government. He said the Congress cited poor financial conditions as the reason. “So was Congress only making false promises to deceive the people?” he asked.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar