VP election has become ideological fight

Former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, who is the joint Opposition candidate in the September 9 vice-presidential poll, speaks about his criticism from a section of the ruling NDA over a 2011 top court bench, which had included him, verdict to disband Salwa Judum, a tribal militia against Maoists in Chhattisgarh.

- B SUDERSHAN REDDY, FORMER SC JUDGE AND OPPN VP CANDIDATE

Edited excerpts of his interview to Saubhadra Chatterji:

Has Union home minister Amit Shah’s criticism over the Salwa Judum verdict surprised you?

I am not at all surprised. They are trying to set up a narrative after 14 years of the judgment. The Vice President is not a political office. It is the second highest constitutional office in India. It is a different matter how the other side perceives the character of that institution. I think it was totally unnecessary to raise this issue. You pick up something because you want to prick somebody. ...I must tell you that the government at the receiving end 14 years back was the UPA government.

Are you suggesting it was not your judgment but the Supreme Court's verdict?