‘Read the judgement and then speak’: Facing Amit Shah heat on Salwa Judum judgement, INDIA bloc’s V-P candidate Sudershan Reddy responds

He was attending an event organised by the INDIA bloc in Hyderabad, which also had Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, his cabinet ministers and CPI and CPI(M) leaders in attendance.

Reddy said he decided to contest the V-P elections because he values the Constitution. Holding up a copy, he said, “For 53 years, I defended and protected the Constitution. Entering the V-P race is only a part of this long constitutional journey of mine… I will continue to defend and protect the constitution of India.”

He said he decided to accept the INDIA bloc’s nomination because “we are living at a time when the Constitution and democratic institutions are being muzzled” and everyone should speak out against this.

On Union Minister Amit Shah calling him a supporter of Naxalites on account of a judgement against Salwa Judum that he wrote, Reddy said, “I am not bothered by the allegations. I will be scared, they thought. I am prepared to enter into a dialogue with them. All that I have to say is, ‘read the judgement and then speak’… These kinds of allegations coming from one side, and the language which is being employed, is not right.”

Speaking against Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he said, “This is not a matter for debate just between the opposition and ruling parties. This is a debate for every citizen because the electoral rolls are that important in our country. Voter ID is a document which does not mention caste, religion or community. The electoral rolls cannot be revised based on the whims and fancies of a section.” The Election Commission of India is “deficient” at the moment and is not protecting voters’ rights, he said.

“Ours is not a majoritarian state. It is a multilingual, multicultural, multireligious state. Only properly legally, constitutionally prepared electoral rolls can help protect the Constitution,” he said, adding that Dr B R Ambedkar had said that the Constitution should not fall into the wrong hands.

Speaking at the same event, the Telangana Chief Minister evoked Telugu pride, stating that Sudershan Reddy is a Telugu candidate and leaders of the twin states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana should vote for him. Naming political leaders, including TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP’s Jagan Mohan Reddy, AIMIM’s Asadduin Owaisi and BRS’s K Chandrashekar Rao, Revanth Reddy said, “This candidate should be supported across party lines.” On Amit Shah calling Sudershan Reddy a Naxal sympathiser, the CM said, “Naxalism is a philosophy. If you don’t like it, you can debate against it.”