‘Terrible optics’: BJP slams opposition VP pick Reddy over Lalu meeting ahead of polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday criticised the opposition INDIA bloc’s vice-presidential candidate, Justice B Sudarshan Reddy, for meeting with former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Lalu shared photos of Reddy’s visit to his Patna residence, saying the former Supreme Court judge had come to inquire about his well-being. The meeting, however, drew sharp criticism from BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, who called it “a shocking statement on probity in public life.”

Malviya said it was troubling that the opposition nominee met with a convicted politician who is neither an MP nor part of the vice-presidential electoral college. “This isn’t just terrible optics, it’s a shocking statement on probity… What’s even more telling is the silence of the ‘usual suspects’, retired judges and self-proclaimed custodians of constitutional morality. Their hypocrisy stands exposed,” he said.

The criticism comes a day before the September 9 vice-presidential election, where NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan, currently the Governor of Maharashtra, will face off against Reddy. The election is being held following Jagdeep Dhankhar’s sudden resignation as Vice President on July 21, which the Opposition claims may have been forced.

Ahead of the vote, the BJP held practice sessions for its MPs in Parliament, while Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a dinner meeting to reinforce the INDIA bloc unity.