INDIA bloc's VP candidate B. Sudershan Reddy files nomination papers
Hyderabad: INDIA bloc’s Vice Presidential candidate, Justice(retd) B. Sudershan Reddy, filed his nomination on Thursday. Reddy in the presence of Congress president and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi. He was contesting against the NDA nominee CP Radha Krishnan.
Retired Supreme Court Justice B. Sudershan Reddy—a jurist who famously annulled the Salwa Judum and once stood against the Emergency—was its candidate for the Vice Presidential election. The 78-year-old from Telangana is not merely a former judge but a lifelong advocate for social justice, deeply influenced by the socialist ideologies of Rammanohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan.
Justice Reddy’s career is a narrative of principled resistance. In 1976, as a 27-year-old lawyer in Hyderabad, he actively opposed the Indira Gandhi-led Emergency, inspired by the JP Movement’s call for total revolution. This early defiance shaped a judicial philosophy he later described as guided by the “Marx-Gandhi-Lohiya” vision—a commitment to dismantling the caste system and challenging what he termed the “Wheel of History” in his writings.
On the bench, Justice Reddy was a consistent voice for the marginalized. His most renowned contribution came in a 2011 Supreme Court judgment that declared the Salwa Judum—a state-sponsored militia in Chhattisgarh—unconstitutional.
Recently, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy made a fervent appeal to all political parties in the Telugu states to unite “beyond politics” and ensure the victory of the INDIA bloc’s Vice Presidential candidate, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, calling it a matter of Telugu pride and a responsibility to protect democratic values on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said, “On one hand, there is the NDA alliance, which has committed vote theft and made a mockery of democracy. On the other hand, the India alliance is fighting to protect the Constitution with the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi."
He emphasized that the nomination of Justice Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge born into an agricultural family in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district, has ‘increased the respect of the Telugu people.’ Making a direct appeal to key leaders, Revanth Reddy said, “I appeal to all parties in both states—Chandrababu Naidu, KCR, Pawan Kalyan, communist brothers, and BJP MPs from both states are appealing to support Sudershan Reddy.”
