B Sudarshan Reddy files papers for V-P poll, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Akhilesh Yadav proposers

Former Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy on Thursday filed his nomination for the September 9 election to the office of Vice-President, with top opposition leaders proposing his candidature.

Reddy filed the papers in the chamber of PC Mody, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, who is also the returning officer for the V-P poll.

He was flanked by chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, and other opposition stalwarts.

Reddy, like his rival in the contest -- CP Radhakrishnan, the NDA nominee -- submitted four sets of nomination papers with Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav and other top leaders backing him.

Opposition sources said 160 MPs had signed Reddy's papers as proposers and seconders. A candidate for the V-P poll must get his nominations signed by at least 20 electors as proposers and another 20 electors as seconders.

In a statement issued after the nomination, Reddy said the election of the V-P is not about one individual but about reaffirming the idea of India as envisaged by the nation's founders -- an India where Parliament functions with integrity, where dissent is respected, and where institutions serve the people with independence and fairness.

"The vice president, as the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, carries the responsibility of safeguarding the highest traditions of parliamentary democracy. If elected, I pledge to discharge that role with impartiality, dignity, and a steadfast commitment to dialogue and decorum," he said ahead of a fight in which the ruling party candidate is numerically strongly placed.

Reddy meets Kejriwal

Reddy who has managed the support of Aam Aadmi Party for the V-P poll today met party national convener Arvind Kejriwal at the latter's residence on Ferozeshah Road in Central Delhi.