INDIA alliance Vice-Presidential candidate, former Supreme Court Judge B. Sudershan Reddy, addresses a press conference in Ranchi on August 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Opposition’s Vice-President nominee, Justice (retd.) B. Sudershan Reddy on Saturday (August 30, 2025) sought support for his candidature from all members of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on merit, irrespective of party lines, asserting that he was ready to meet the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) top brass, if allowed to do so.
“I have sent letters to all members of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha to consider my candidature on merit, and I am ready to meet and seek support from BJP’s top brass if it (the BJP) allows me to do so,” he said at a press conference here. He wanted the V-P election to be one of the most decent and fair polls ever witnessed by India in recent years, Justice Reddy said.
He also questioned the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “What is this SIR… It is a new trouble… There can be a special revision… Nobody disputes that electoral rolls should be updated and the names of those who are not amongst us should be struck out, but what is this intensive exclusion… Democracy doesn’t mean simply votes; being in majority does not give power to do anything,” Justice Reddy said.
Justice Reddy also alleged violations in the provisions of the Constitution of India, which he said was like the “Triveni Sangam” (confluence of three rivers), and said that one should know its history, text and structure. The Constitution speaks about equality and justice — social, economic, and political — and upholds two important values of the fraternity and dignity of an individual, he said.
Justice Reddy hit out at the Centre, saying Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had been tortured, and his dignity crushed. “Elected representatives are repositories of people’s faith and trust. What happened to the faith and trust reposed in Hemant Soren and his Cabinet colleagues when he was incarcerated for no valid reason?” he said.
“Constitutional functionaries involved in framing the Jharkhand CM are responsible for violating his dignity… they should take responsibility for infringing his dignity, conferred on him like any other citizen by the Constitution,” the INDIA bloc’s V-P nominee said.
Mr. Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2024 in connection with the Central agency’s investigation into a money laundering case linked to illegal possession of 8.36 acres of land. He was summoned multiple times by the ED before he was questioned at his residence and subsequently arrested on January 31, 2024.
Mr. Soren was released on June 28, 2024 after the Jharkhand High Court granted him bail in the money laundering case, observing that he was not guilty, and there was no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence on bail.
Justice Reddy extended condolences to Mr. Soren on the demise of his father Shibu Soren, saying the founder of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha founder had devoted his entire life for the people, and achieved the ambition of carving out a separate State that stood as Jharkhand because of his tireless efforts.
The stage is set for a direct contest between ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) V-P nominee C.P. Radhakrishnan, and Justice Reddy, the joint Opposition candidate, on September 9.
The upcoming Vice-Presidential election is being described as a ‘south versus south’ battle as both nominees hail from southern India. While Mr. Radhakrishnan is a BJP veteran from Tamil Nadu, Mr. Reddy is a former Supreme Court judge hailing from Telangana.
Published – August 30, 2025 10:27 pm IST
