Meet B Sudershan Reddy, INDIA Bloc's Vice-Presidential Nominee and Former Supreme Court Judge
The opposition INDIA alliance said on Tuesday that former Supreme Court judge B. Sudarshan Reddy will run for vice president. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress chairman, said that the party has agreed to field a joint candidate for the election. "It is a big moment for democracy," said Kharge, the bloc's convener.
"We all know how he stood for the poor and protected the Constitution," she said. "This is an ideological battle, and all Opposition parties agreed; that's why we are contesting the election."
Reddy was appointed chief justice of the Gauhati High Court in 2005 after serving as a judge in the Andhra Pradesh High Court from 1995. He served as a Supreme Court judge from 2007 until his retirement in 2011. Reddy also served as Goa's first Lokayukta, or anti-corruption ombudsman, in 2013.
The INDIA bloc's declaration came two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party announced Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as the ruling National Democratic Alliance's vice presidential nominee.
On Sunday, BJP chairman JP Nadda expressed hope that Radhakrishnan would be elected unopposed. The vice president also serves as the Rajya Sabha chairperson. The vice presidential election is set to take place on September 9. The election results will be announced on the polling day itself.
The election was called when Jagdeep Dhankar resigned from his position on July 21 "to prioritize health care and follow medical advice." He became vice president on August 11, 2022, and his five-year term was scheduled to end in 2027.
Reddy's opponent, Radhakrishnan, has been Maharashtra's governor since July 2024. He has previously served as the governor of Jharkhand and Telangana, as well as the lieutenant governor of Puducherry.
Born on July 8, 1946, Reddy was appointed the judge of the Supreme Court on January 12, 2007 and retired on July 8, 2011 after a four-year stint. Before being nominated to the top court, Reddy, who enrolled as an advocate at Hyderabad with the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh on December 27, 1971, served as the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court for over a year.
