INDIA's Veep Pick Best Known For "Weakening Fight Against Naxalism": BJP Sources

Hitting out at the Congress and the INDIA bloc for picking B Sudershan Reddy as their nominee for the vice president polls, BJP sources have said the former Supreme Court judge is best remembered for "weakening India's fight against Naxalism" since he was part of a bench that had struck down Salwa Judum, a militia set up to combat Maoists in Chhattisgarh.

The sources also said Mr Reddy was one of the judges on the bench that had refused to reopen the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy case in 2011 and reminded the party that it had termed him a "yes man" of the BJP chief minister when he was appointed the first Lokayukta of Goa in 2013.

The Congress, the sources pointed out, had opposed former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi's nomination to the Rajya Sabha, saying it had disgraced the judiciary, but was now exposing its "hypocrisy" by fielding a former judge for elections to a Constitutional post.

On Tuesday, the INDIA bloc announced, after several rounds of discussions, that it would field Mr Reddy as its candidate for the vice presidential elections against the NDA's choice, Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described the contest as an ideological battle and said Mr Reddy is a distinguished and progressive jurist.

"B Sudershan Reddy is one of India's most distinguished and progressive jurists. He has had a long and eminent legal career, including as Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, and Judge of the Supreme Court. He has been a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic, and political justice. His judgments show how he stood for the poor, protected the Constitution, and upheld fundamental rights," Mr Kharge said.

Countering this assertion, the BJP sources said the opposition bloc has actually picked someone who "weakened India's fight against Naxalism" at a time when the movement is on the decline and the Modi government is making all efforts to eliminate it by March 31 next year. 

Mr Reddy was part of the bench that had, in 2011, said the deployment of tribal youth as Special Police Officers in the fight against Maoists was illegal and ordered that Salwa Judum and other such forces not be allowed to operate.

"The State of Chhattisgarh shall forthwith make every effort to recall all firearms issued to any of the SPOs, whether current or former, along with any and all accoutrements and accessories issued to use such firearms. The word firearm as used shall include any and all forms of guns, rifles, launchers et cetera, of whatever calibre," the bench had said. 

The sources said this judgment had led to the fight against Naxalism taking a hit.

Mr Reddy, they said, was also on the five-judge bench that had refused to reopen the case into the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 2011. BJP leaders have earlier accused the Congress of helping Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson flee the country in 1984. 

The Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the sources said, had also taken out a black flag protest against the appointment of Mr Reddy as the first Lokayukta of Goa, dismissing him as the "yes man" of then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of the BJP

"But, in 2025, the same Congress-led INDIA bloc has now fielded the very same person as their vice presidential candidate, hailing him as a 'champion of social and political justice'," said a source.