Not loyalty to party, but love for country must guide your choice: Opposition VP candidate Reddy to MPs

In a fervent appeal to MPs ahead of the vice presidential polls, Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy on Sunday exhorted them to not let party loyalty guide their choice and asserted that by entrusting him with this office, they would be ensuring that the Rajya Sabha stands as a true temple of democracy.

In a video message, Reddy told the MPs that he seeks their support not for himself but for the “values that define us as a sovereign democratic republic”.

“In this election, there is no party whip, and the ballot is secret. It is not loyalty to any political party, but love for the country that must guide your choice. Each one of you carry the moral responsibility to preserve the conscience, the soul of our beloved nation,” Reddy said in his over 12-minute-long video message for members of Parliament.

“By entrusting me with this office, you will be choosing to defend parliamentary traditions, to restore dignity to debate, and to ensure that the Rajya Sabha stands as a true temple of democracy,” the former Supreme Court judge said.

This is not just a vote to elect your Vice-President — it is a vote for the spirit of India itself, he asserted.

“Together, let us strengthen our Republic and create a legacy that future generations will be proud to inherit,” Reddy said.

In his message to MPs, Reddy said he stands before them with humility and a deep sense of responsibility as a candidate for the office of the vice-president of the great Republic.

“India’s democracy was built on the supreme sacrifices of our freedom fighters and nurtured for decades by their vision,” he said.

Today, as that democratic space shrinks and citizens’ rights come under strain, “it is our duty to defend the soul of our democratic Republic”, Reddy said.

He said his candidature is not at all a personal aspiration but a collective effort to protect and strengthen India’s democratic fabric.

The vice presidential poll will be held on September 9. It will be a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate Reddy. The vice presidential election has been described by the Opposition as an ideological battle, even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

Reddy (79), who retired from the apex court in July 2011, is a veteran jurist known for several landmark judgments criticising the then Union government for showing slackness in probing black-money cases. He had also declared Salwa Judum, appointed by the Chhattisgarh government to fight Naxals, as unconstitutional.

As an apex court judge, Reddy ordered the formation of a special investigation team to take all steps for bringing back unaccounted monies unlawfully kept in bank accounts abroad.

The Congress-led Opposition is projecting Reddy as a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice.

Reddy has had a long and eminent legal career, including as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court and a judge of the Supreme Court. He also led the committee that undertook the caste survey in Telangana.