India will elect a new Vice President on Tuesday after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned in July. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nominated senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan. The Opposition INDIA bloc has named former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy.
The contest is being called symbolic, as the NDA has the numbers to ensure an easy win for Radhakrishnan. Still, the Opposition is presenting it as a clash of ideologies.
Reddy Calls It an Ideological Battle
Opposition candidate B. Sudershan Reddy has framed the election as a fight of ideas. “This is not a battle; it is a clash of ideas… The other side was propagating that there is a person here who has been a full member of the RSS all his life, so I disagree with that ideology, not with CP Radhakrishnan. There is nothing personal between CP Radhakrishnan and me. We have never even met each other. So I wanted this to be a decent contest, not between individuals but between two different ideologies,” he told ANI.
Reddy also said he was “100% sure” of winning and claimed to be getting “tremendous response” across the country.
Who is B. Sudershan Reddy?
B Sudershan Reddy was born in Andhra Pradesh. He studied law at Osmania University and began his legal career as a High Court lawyer. In 1995, he became a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Later, he served as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court in 2005. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2007 and retired in 2011.
Justice Reddy is known for several landmark judgments. The most notable was in 2011, when he declared the Salwa Judum illegal and unconstitutional. The group of armed tribal youth had been deployed to fight Naxalites in Chhattisgarh.
Recently, Home Minister Amit Shah criticised that judgement, saying it weakened anti-Maoist operations. His remarks sparked criticism, with several retired judges calling Shah’s comments “unfortunate.”
Reddy’s Recent Controversies
B Sudershan Reddy has been in the news recently for his political meetings. Earlier this month, he met RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav, who has been convicted in a scam. This meeting drew sharp reactions.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “What kind of a Retired Judge of the Supreme Court are you that you are meeting someone who is convicted of a scam? And Lalu Prasad is not even a voter and not a member of parliament, so why are you talking about praising the soul of the nation? This is hypocrisy! Please don’t talk about the soul of the nation.”
How the Numbers Stack Up
The Vice President is elected by an electoral college of 781 MPs — 245 from the Rajya Sabha and 536 from the Lok Sabha, along with 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha. The majority mark is 391.
The NDA has 425 MPs, which secures its candidate, CP Radhakrishnan. The Opposition has 324 MPs. Among other parties, YSRCP (11 MPs) has announced support for the NDA, while BRS and BJD will abstain. AIMIM has declared support for the Opposition candidate.
With these numbers, the election outcome is clear. CP Radhakrishnan is set to become India’s new Vice President, while the Opposition hopes to use the contest to highlight ideological differences.
