Not loyalty to party, but love for country must guide your choice: Opposition VP pick Reddy to MPs
New Delhi (PTI): In a fervent appeal to MPs ahead of the vice presidential polls, Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy on Sunday exhorted them to not let party loyalty guide their choice and asserted that by entrusting him with this office, they would be ensuring that the Rajya Sabha stands as a true temple of democracy.
In a video message, Reddy told the MPs that he seeks their support not for himself but for the "values that define us as a sovereign democratic republic".
“In this election, there is no party whip, and the ballot is secret. It is not loyalty to any political party, but love for the country that must guide your choice. Each one of you carry the moral responsibility to preserve the conscience, the soul of our beloved nation,” Reddy said in his over 12-minute-long video message for members of Parliament.
“By entrusting me with this office, you will be choosing to defend parliamentary traditions, to restore dignity to debate, and to ensure that the Rajya Sabha stands as a true temple of democracy,” the former Supreme Court judge said.
This is not just a vote to elect your Vice-President - it is a vote for the spirit of India itself, he asserted.
“Together, let us strengthen our Republic and create a legacy that future generations will be proud to inherit,” Reddy said.
In his message to MPs, Reddy said he stands before them with humility and a deep sense of responsibility as a candidate for the office of the vice-president of the great Republic.
"India’s democracy was built on the supreme sacrifices of our freedom fighters and nurtured for decades by their vision," he said.
Today, as that democratic space shrinks and citizens’ rights come under strain, "it is our duty to defend the soul of our democratic Republic", Reddy said.
He said his candidature is not at all a personal aspiration but a collective effort to protect and strengthen India's democratic fabric.
The vice presidential poll will be held on September 9. It will be a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate Reddy. Both candidates this time hail from southern India, with Radhakrishnan from Tamil Nadu and Reddy from Telangana.
The vice presidential election has been described by the Opposition as an ideological battle, even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Reddy (79), who retired from the apex court in July 2011, is a veteran jurist known for several landmark judgments criticising the then Union government for showing slackness in probing black-money cases. He had also declared Salwa Judum, appointed by the Chhattisgarh government to fight Naxals, as unconstitutional.
As an apex court judge, Reddy ordered the formation of a special investigation team to take all steps for bringing back unaccounted monies unlawfully kept in bank accounts abroad.
The Congress-led Opposition is projecting Reddy as a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice.
Reddy has had a long and eminent legal career, including as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court and a judge of the Supreme Court. He also led the committee that undertook the caste survey in Telangana.
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23-year-old woman found dead at Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was found dead in her house in Delhi's Prem Nagar area, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, an official said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Anjali Singh, was found motionless in her room on Monday by her sister and her neighbour.
Police said her father, Vinod Kumar Singh (51), told them that he and his wife were away at work at the time of the incident, while their son and the other daughter were also not at home at the time of the incident.
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According to the family, the room in which Anjali was found was locked from the inside. The door was later forcibly opened by a neighbour and her sister with the help of a crowbar.
Her body was found lying on the bed inside the room, police said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Anjali had allegedly hanged herself using a piece of cloth tied to the ceiling fan.
It is suspected that the noose eventually might have loosened or torn off, resulting in her being found lying on the bed.
Family members informed the police that Anjali was a final-year student of a librarian science course from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). About a week ago, her final-year examination results were declared, and she had failed, following which she had been under depression, they said.
The family has not raised any allegation of foul play, police said, adding that no suicide note or external injury marks were found on the body during the initial inspection.
Inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter as per the law. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death, and further investigation is underway, police added.
