Former SC judge, B Sudershan Reddy is opposition’s Vice President nominee
Mangalore Today News Network
New Delhi, Aug 19, 2025: The INDIA opposition bloc has chosen Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy, former Supreme Court judge and the first Lokayukta of Goa, as its candidate for the September 9 Vice Presidential election. Mr Reddy will take on NDA’s candidate, Maharashtra Governor and BJP veteran CP Radhakrishnan, in the contest for the second-highest constitutional post of the country.
Born in Andhra Pradesh’s Rangareddy district, Mr Reddy started his career as an advocate in 1971 and went on to practise in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He was appointed as a high court judge in 1995 and then became the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court in 2005. The eminent jurist was appointed a Supreme Court judge in January 2007 and retired in July 2011. Thereafter, he also served as Goa’s first Lokayukta.
The INDIA bloc’s decision, announced by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, comes after several rounds of discussion during which Opposition leaders brainstormed about names acceptable to all parties in the bloc. According to sources, the names of former ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai and Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson and author Tushar Gandhi, and former ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai were also discussed.
Going by the numbers, the BJP appears to have an edge in the Vice Presidential election. The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The current electoral college, excluding the vacancies, has 782 members. This means that the winning side needs to have at least 392 votes.
The NDA has 293 seats in Lok Sabha and 133 in Rajya Sabha. Going by the numbers, the BJP will comfortably put CP Radhakrishnan in the Vice President post. Only if a group of NDA members rebel and vote for the Opposition pick can the tables turn. At this point, such a surprise seems unlikely.
The Opposition’s move to force a contest is largely an optics game to ensure that the BJP does not get a walkover. A contest, however tilted, will provide the Opposition to showcase its unity at a time when it is pushing hard to corner the government on the issue of alleged poll irregularities.
There is a subplot in the Opposition’s choice. The BJP had put DMK in a tricky spot by choosing a Tamil Nadu face for the top post. Now, BJP’s key ally TDP faces a similar dilemma. Will they support the NDA pick of a son of Andhra? The Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP and K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi also face the same choice now: to back the NDA candidate or the jurist from Andhra.