‘MPs from outside INDIA bloc coming forward to support me’ | Lucknow News

Lucknow: Opposition’s vice-president nominee B Sudarshan Reddy on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to MPs from outside the opposition’s INDIA bloc who are coming forward to support him. A retired Supreme Court judge, Reddy, who was in town to seek support of MPs from UP to his candidature, appealed to all the Members of Parliament cutting across “colour and creed” to vote on merit. “Not only the INDIA bloc but … jo log INDIA bloc mein nahin hain, woh log bhi madad dene ke liye aage aa rahe hain (Those who are not a part of INDIA bloc are also coming forward to support me). Perhaps, but for my friend Akhilesh Yadav, it would not have been possible,” Reddy said, addressing a press conference at Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow on Tuesday. He said he had already met Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin in Chennai and expressed hope that MPs will vote objectively in the elections to be held on Sept 9. He reiterated that he agreed to contest for the post of vice-president as it was not a political chair but a constitution post. “My journey with the Constitution of India began in 1971 when I joined the Bar,” Reddy said, adding that ever since he has stood by the values enshrined in the Constitution and emphatically assured that he would continue to do so always. He said he draws inspiration from philosopher and educationist Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former diplomat Dr KR Narayanan, Hamid Ansari along with the fact that his peer CJI Mohammad Hidayatullah, too, presided over the office of the vice-president. “These are the people who are the source of my inspiration to accept so gracefully the offer that was made to me,” Reddy said. “I appeal to members of all the political parties, irrespective of their colour and creed, to consider my candidature on its own merits,” Reddy said. Responding to media queries later, Reddy steered clear of Union home minister Amit Shah’s Salwa Judum allegations against him, saying that he had already spoken on the issue and did not want to expand it any further.