Will KCR Sail with Oppn Over Sudershan Reddy
The BRS has the three votes of K. Suresh Reddy, V. Ravichandra and D. Damodar Rao, all Rajya Sabha members
Hyderabad: All eyes are on BRS supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao following the decision of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc to field Supreme Court former judge and “son of the soil” Justice B. Sudershan Reddy as its Vice-President candidate.
While Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has invoked Telugu sentiment, urging al political parties in the Telugu states to support Justice Sudershan Reddy, in Andhra Pradesh the Telugu Desam and Jana Sena, being NDA partners, and the YSRC have pledged support to NDA nominee C.P. Radhakrishnan.
The issue turned curious with BRS Rajya Sabha member K.R. Suresh Reddy confirming to Deccan Chronicle that the party would take part in the voting. All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen also has a vote in its chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
Sources in the Congress told Deccan Chronicle that party leader Rahul Gandhi was impressed with Justice Sudershan Reddy’s knowledge of the Constitution and the effective handling of the task given to prepare composite backwardness index as chairman of independent experts working group. Another group member, Praveen Chakravarthy, who is said to have enjoyed confidence of Rahul Gandhi, also contributed to the decision, sources added.
The BRS has the three votes of K. Suresh Reddy, V. Ravichandra and D. Damodar Rao, all Rajya Sabha members.
Party supremo Chandrashekar Rao has taken diametrically opposite decisions in the V-P elections in 2017 and 2022. Rao invoked Telugu sentiment and extended support to then NDA nominee M. Venkaiah Naidu in 2017 but switched over to support the Opposition nominee Margaret Alva in 2022 after his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi became strained.
“It will not be easy for KCR to ignore the candidature of Justice Reddy,” said a senior Congress minister. The former judge is not only a son of the soil but has also extensively worked for separate statehood for Telangana.
“If KCR sails with the BJP, it is just to buy peace and avoid investigation by Central agencies into his and his family’s corrupt activities and nothing else. It will reiterate our allegation that the BRS is a B team of the saffron party,” the minister said.
Party MP Suresh Reddy told Deccan Chronicle that the party’s overall stand had been one of non-alignment but decisions would be taken by Rao would be based on what is best for Telangana.
In the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Prime Minister continues to enjoy an enviable position wherein all the political parties extend support to his decisions. The YSRC was quick to announce its support to the NDA nominee as soon as defence minister Rajnath Singh called former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and sought his support. Party MP Y.V. Subba Reddy told mediapersons that his party would wish for a unanimous election for high Constitutional posts like President and Vice President but, in the event of an election, it would support the NDA nominee.
