Social justice and constitutionalism were the two planks that the Opposition parties emphasised while taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. More than a year later, the nomination of former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retired) B. Sudershan Reddy, as the joint Opposition candidate in the coming vice-presidential polls is a reiteration of that emphasis.
“This Vice-Presidential election is not merely a contest for an office; it is an ideological battle for the soul of our nation. While the ruling party has chosen the ideology of RSS, we uphold the Constitution and its values as our guiding light,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a read-out while announcing Justice Reddy’s name formally at a press conference. The Opposition parties have pitched the vice-presidential elections as one that will see a contest between a person who has always espoused the cause of the Constitution and NDA’s candidate, C.P. Radhakrishnan, a veteran RSS activist from Tamil Nadu, who has served as a two-term Member of Parliament, from 1998 to 2004.
