Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a scathing attack on retired Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy, the Opposition's nominee for the Vice Presidential election, accusing him of having made some of his court decisions lending support to Naxalism (Maoism).
Speaking to a public audience, Shah pointed to Justice Reddy's judgment in 2011 on the Salwa Judum movement, where the Supreme Court termed as "illegal" and "unconstitutional" recruiting and arming tribal youths as special police officers in Chhattisgarh.
That judgment directed disbanding those vigilante groups, stressing that the government must try addressing the cause of Maoist insurgency through legal governance instead of arming civilians.
Pleading the judgment, Shah added that the judgment diluted the state struggle against extremism. "Sudershan Reddy is the man who assisted Naxalism. He delivered the Salwa Judum judgment. Had the judgment not been delivered, Naxal terrorism would have been dealt with by 2020," he stated.
The Home Minister also alleged that the Congress succumbed to Leftist partners by running a candidate "who backed Naxalism with a platform like the Supreme Court."
Tying in with Kerala, where Assembly polls are scheduled next year, Shah pointed out that the state also had been "suffering" from Left-wing extremism and appealed to citizens to consider the importance of the choice that the Opposition has made in the Vice Presidential election.
The election for the Vice President will be held on September 9, with Justice Reddy, supported by the INDIA bloc, pitted against NDA's candidate Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan. The election comes following the resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar last month.
Justice Reddy, who retired from the Supreme Court in 2011, sat on a number of important constitutional benches. His Salwa Judum judgment remains perhaps the most controversial judgments involving government policy against Maoist insurgency, receiving both approbation for upholding constitutional rights as well as criticism for limiting counterinsurgency operations.
With political campaigning heating up, Shah's statement is being seen as part of the BJP's larger attempt to frame the election as a battle between two ideologies: national security over civil rights.
Earlier during the day, Shah also conducted a closed-door strategy meeting with top BJP Kerala unit leaders, instructing them to target a 25 per cent vote share in the next local body elections due in December.
