The NDA move to pick a Tamil leader as its Vice-Presidential candidate -- in another effort to play the Tamil card -- appears to have led its southern allies into a dilemma as the Opposition INDIA bloc came up with an equally strong response.
The NDA has picked CP Radhakrishnan, one of BJP's party's tallest leaders from Tamil Nadu, to wrong-foot the state's ruling DMK in the coming state elections. The choice before the DMK was tricky - go for a Tamil candidate or against him and support the INDIA Bloc pick.
The shoe is now on the other foot. The INDIA bloc has attempted to turn the tables on the NDA, picking Justice Sudershan Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge, this afternoon.
His Telugu heritage is helping the Opposition bait not just NDA ally Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, but also the state's Opposition YSR Congress and the Telangana's Opposition Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
While the Opposition is hoping that Mr Naidu would alienate his Telugu voters with his refusal, the TRS stands the risk of being called the "B Team" of the BJP in case they refuse.
Both TDP and YSRCP have promised to support the NDA candidate.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy laid the groundwork today with an open invitation to Mr Naidu, Jaganmohan Reddy of YSR Congress, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM -- the Hyderabad MP -- to support the Opposition candidate.
"When the Congress conducted census in Telangana, Justice Sudarshan Reddy was the chairman of the independent advisory committee. With his advice, the cabinet and the assembly passed the 2 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes. That is now pending with the President," Mr Reddy said in a dig at the NDA.
"On the other hand, the NDA stopped the 42 per cent reservation going against the constitution. Justice Sudershan Reddy is the representative of those who tried to wrong the OBCs. Justice Reddy is not OBC but he stands with the OBCs," he added in a clear message to the people.
The NDA candidate, CP Radhakrishnan, belongs to the OBC community.
He was picked with a keen eye on the caste equation as was Jagdeep Dhankhar, a Jat and Droupadi Murmu, who belongs to the ST community. Two former vice presidents -- Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and R Venkataraman -- were Brahmins.
Going by concrete numbers, the NDA clearly has an edge. With the combined strength of both houses standing at 786, the majority mark is 394. The NDA's combined strength in the two houses is 422 -- 293 members in the Lok Sabha and 129 in the Rajya Sabha.
But the Opposition is keen not just to force an election and reinforce their unity but also to pitch the contest as a larger ideological battle -- especially after their long confrontation with Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Rajya Sabha.
