Former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy was on Tueday officially announced as the joint nominee of the Opposition parties for the forthcoming Vice-Presidential election on September 9, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge calling the contest an “ideological battle.”
“We are going to file the nomination on August 21,” said Kharge at a media briefing, adding that a strategy meeting of the Opposition parties will be held at the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday.
Kharge said that all the parties in opposition agreed that the Vice-Presidential election must be considered an "ideological battle" so it was necessary to offer a united candidate.
By proposing Reddy as a "pro-poor and champion of economic and social cause", he said the former judge typified the values derived from India's freedom struggle and the values of the Constitution and democracy.
“Today, these values are under assault, and this is the reason that the Opposition decided to contest this ideological battle unitedly,” he said.
Reddy, who started his career in the law in Andhra Pradesh and subsequently became Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court before being elevated to the Supreme Court in January 2007 and retiring in July 2011, will be up against the NDA's choice, Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, whose name was announced on August 12 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J.P. Nadda.
Curiously, the Opposition's announcement of its Vice-Presidential candidate followed on the same day that NDA had an emergency meet where PM Modi asked all MPs—Opposition MPs included—to support Radhakrishnan unanimously.
The election was prompted by the mid-term resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned due to health reasons. His sudden resignation, however, raised rumors about possible tension with the government.
The Vice President is elected through an electoral college of members of both the Houses of Parliament. With its majority, the NDA has the numbers to ensure its candidate's victory.
Apart from being the nation's second-highest constitutional position, the Vice President also serves as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, a fact that makes the post politically significant.
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