Former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy is the joint candidate of the Opposition parties for the Vice-Presidential polls, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Tuesday, as he called the upcoming election for the country's second-highest office an "ideological battle".
Reddy is a former judge of the Supreme Court and the first Lokayukta of Goa. He is also in the Board of Trustees of the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre in Hyderabad. He will file his nomination on August 21.
"All INDIA bloc parties have decided to have a common candidate; the decision has been taken unanimously. I am happy that all opposition parties have agreed on one name. It is a big achievement for democracy," Kharge said.
"Whenever democracy and the Constitution are under attack, Opposition parties unite to fight against it. So we have decided to field a good candidate in this election," he said.
Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said Reddy is one of India's most "distinguished and progressive jurists".
"He has had a long and eminent legal career. As the judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court and judge of the Supreme Court, he has been a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice.
"He is a pro-poor man, and in many of his judgments... he favoured the poor people and also protected the Constitution and fundamental rights," Kharge said.
He stressed that the vice presidential contest is "an ideological battle" and that's why all the opposition parties are contesting unitedly.
Talking about Reddy, the Congress chief said, "He reflects fully the values that saved our country's freedom movement so profoundly and the values on which our country's constitution and democracy have been anchored".
"All these values are under assault, and therefore it is our collective and determined resolve to fight this election," he said.
According to TMC leader Derek O'Brien, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had recently left the INDIA bloc, is also supporting Reddy for the Vice-Presidential polls.
The BJP-led NDA has picked Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan, a seasoned BJP leader from Tamil Nadu with an RSS background, as its vice-presidential candidate.