Asaduddin Owaisi backs INDIA Bloc's Vice-President nominee Sudershan Reddy

Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi extended support to the INDIA bloc’s Vice Presidential election nominee B Sudershan Reddy.

Owaisi said that he received a request from the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office to back the retired Supreme Court judge, who is pitted against NDA nominee and incumbent Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan for the September 9 poll.

“@TelanganaCMO spoke to me today and requested that we support Justice Sudershan Reddy as Vice President. @aimim_national will extend its support to Justice Reddy, a fellow Hyderabadi and a respected jurist. I also spoke to Justice Reddy and expressed our best wishes to him," Owaisi wrote on X.

Former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy was on August 19 declared as the united Opposition parties' candidate for the Vice-Presidential election -- an exercise described by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as an "ideological battle".

Reddy, who has practised law in Andhra Pradesh and served as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, was appointed as a Supreme Court judge in January 2007. He retired in July 2011.

The Vice Presidential election was necessitated by the mid-term resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, who vacated the post citing medical reasons. The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. With a clear numerical advantage in Parliament, the NDA holds sufficient strength to ensure the victory of its chosen candidate.

The Vice President also serves as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, making the post politically significant.