Kejriwal meets Opp V-P candidate Reddy, appeals: ‘Don’t listen to your party, vote for Justice saab’
Kejriwal said he had had “a long discussion on the election strategy and the current situation in the country”, issuing an appeal to all MPs to throw their weight behind him so that the nation could have “an impartial Vice President”.
3 min read
Opposition V-P candidate Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy, with TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, calls on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal at his residence in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)
Hours after he filed his nomination papers for next month’s Vice-Presidential election, joint Opposition candidate Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy called on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to express gratitude for the party’s support for his candidature.
Flanked by the former Delhi chief minister and senior TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee — their parties have formally called it quits with the Opposition INDIA bloc but have lent their “issue-based” support to his nomination — Reddy underlined his credentials for the Constitutional post as a “concerned citizen” and a former judge.
Senior Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Pramod Tiwari and Syed Naseer Hussain were also present.
“Yesterday, Kejriwal ji sent his representative to the Opposition meeting, Sanjay Singh saab… where he conveyed support for my candidature. I am not a person who belongs to any particular political party. The office of the Vice-President is not a political office. It is a high Constitutional office which is required to be independent and autonomous, impartial — which are the qualities of a judge,” he said.
“And that is the reason why I have accepted the request made by some friends and ably supported, endorsed by a veteran leader like Shri Arvind Kejriwal ji. I have come here to express my gratitude as he extended solidarity and provoked all of us to think afresh as to what is happening in this country and what are the challenges ahead which we have to address. I am going to be one among… the concerned citizens of this country not associated with any political party,” he said.
Kejriwal said he had had “a long discussion on the election strategy and the current situation in the country”, issuing an appeal to all MPs to throw their weight behind him so that the nation could have “an impartial Vice President”.
Emphasising that AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, the party’s main link to the larger Opposition, was part of his nomination filing, Kejriwal said: “We will leave no stone unturned to make Justice saab win. It is a secret ballot, no whip is issued. He has had a very impressive career as a judge. He has delivered judgements in favour of the nation, justice fearlessly.”
Kejriwal appealed to all ruling alliance MPs to disregard their party line, calling Justice Reddy him “the country’s candidate”.
“If a person like him ascends to the post of Vice President, the honour and dignity of the office will increase…he is neither a ruling party nor opposition candidate, he is everyone’s candidate, the country’s candidate…” he said.
“Those from other parties too, in the national interest and irrespective of what their party high command says — do not listen to them. Vote in the national interest and make Justice saab victorious so we can get a good and unbiased individual as Vice President,” Kejriwal said.
You May Like
