People outside INDIA bloc alliance coming forward to help: Oppn VP

Lucknow, Aug 26 (PTI) Opposition's vice presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy on Tuesday said he was grateful that those who are not in the INDIA bloc are also coming forward to help him.

Reddy also appealed to members of all political parties to rise above party lines and consider his candidature on the basis of "merit and principle".

"You already know that the opposition has trusted me, and I have been chosen as a candidate. I am deeply grateful that not only the INDIA alliance but also people outside the alliance are coming forward to help. But without my friend Akhilesh Yadav, this would not have been possible," he said at a press conference at the Samajwadi Party headquarters here in present of the SP chief and Congress leaders.

However, he did not elaborate as to who those people were.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai, who was also present at the press conference, later told PTI, "We are one and we have some surprises up our sleeve to embarrass the BJP." Reddy also mentioned that he recently met AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai.

On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's charge that he supported Naxalism, Reddy said he did not want to expand the debate on it.

"They are making an attempt to build a narrative. Whatever response I have to give, I have given (the response)," he said when asked about Shah's remark.

"You must have seen today's newspapers... I have said everything that is required to be said, I do not wish to expand the debate and say anything," he added.

"I will not talk about political issues as this (Vice President) is not a political office," he said.

Speaking in Kerala on Friday, Shah had said, "Sudershan Reddy is the person who helped Naxalism. He gave Salwa Judum judgment. If the Salwa Judum judgment had not been given, the Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020. He is the person who was inspired by the ideology that gave Salwa Judam judgment." Reddy on Saturday said he did not wish to join issues with the home minister, asserting the verdict was not his but that of the Supreme Court.

He had also said that Shah would not have made the remarks had he read the complete judgment.

Rai said Shah's remarks on a judgement given in Reddy's capacity as a judge were "uncalled for." "I think Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on judgement given by Justice Reddy in his capacity as a judge were wholly uncalled for and amount to insulting the judiciary. That is why we have always maintained that the BJP and its leaders have scant regard for Constitution and Constitutional bodies," the UPCC chief told PTI.

Reddy along with Justice S S Nijjar was part of an apex court bench that had in July 2011 ordered the disbanding of Salwa Judum, ruling that using tribal youths as Special Police Officers in the fight against Maoist insurgents was illegal and unconstitutional.

Asked if constitutional institutions have lost their way, Reddy said, "I must say that "they are definitely under influence. They need to seriously think about bringing themselves on the right track." On a question about the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill recently introduced in Parliament, Reddy said this bill has been presented before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, so it would not be right to comment on it right now.

The opposition candidate stressed that the post of vice president is a constitutional office.

"Some of you may ask why I have stepped into the political arena. I say that I have not stepped into politics this is a high constitutional post. Philosophers, national leaders, and educationists have held it before: Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Husain, Dr K R Narayanan, and later Shri Hamid Ansari ji. They inspire me. I am grateful to all opposition parties for nominating me to walk the path they once walked," he said.

Reddy said he was constantly speaking with MPs and almost daily, interacting with the media as well.

"I don't need to explain why I am here. I have come to seek the cooperation of the honorable Members of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh. I believe that the office of the vice president, which comes right after the President, is not a political post. It is a high constitutional office," he said.

"I stand firmly by constitutional values and assure the nation that I will continue to uphold them," he added.

Reddy also mentioned Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying that he learnt a lot from them.

"We have learned a lot from (Dr Ram Manohar) Lohia ji, and from Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) as well. But there's one thing I come from South India and never properly learned how to give a speech in Hindi. Whenever I come to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, or Himachal Pradesh, I make some effort to speak in Hindi, and I will keep trying," he said.

Rai said he was sure that the INDIA bloc was getting support for the vice presidential election even outside the bloc.

Asked if despite lacking numbers to secure an outright win for its candidate, the Opposition was using the vice presidential polls to show that INDIA Bloc was still a united front, Rai said, "We are one and we have some surprises up our sleeve to embarrass the BJP." "We are getting great responses from everywhere. Everyone is noticing how BJP is trampling the spirit of the Constitution. I am confident that the support we are getting will surprise many," he said. The stage is set for a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate Reddy for the September 9 vice-presidential election, in what is being described as a "south versus south" battle as both hail from south India.

While Radhakrishnan is a BJP veteran from Tamil Nadu, Reddy is a former Supreme Court judge who hails from Telangana.

The vice-presidential poll, necessitated by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar recently, has been described by the opposition as an ideological battle, even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Reddy (79), who retired from the apex court in July 2011, is a veteran jurist known for several landmark judgments criticising the then Union government for showing slackness in probing blackmoney cases. PTI ABN MAN DV DV