New Delhi: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday strongly condemned the INDIA bloc candidate and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy for meeting fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad.
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, BJP MP said, "Retired Judge of the Supreme Court Sudershan Reddy is the opposition's candidate for the post of Vice-President. We still respect judges a lot, whether they are sitting or retired. But when a judge stands in elections and says some big things, questions will definitely be raised."
Pointing out a newspaper article of Reddy where he said, "Vote for me to save the soul of the nation: Opposition VP pick", Prasad said that many big things have been said in this article by Reddy to save the country. "He talked about "temple of democracy" and "conscience". Sudershan Reddy has given a statement that vote for me to save the soul of the nation," he added.
Targeting Reddy for meeting Lalu Prasad, he asked, "What kind of a Retired Judge of the Supreme Court are you that you are meeting someone who is convicted of a scam? And Lalu Prasad is not even a voter and not a member of parliament, so why are you talking about praising the soul of the nation? This is hypocrisy! Please don't talk about the soul of the nation."
Prasad said that the RJD supremo Lalu Yadav is convicted not only in the fodder scam but is also chargesheeted in the "land for job scam" case. He urged Reddy not to speak of conscience and saving the soul of the nation after meeting a person with a series of corruption cases.
"It is hypocrisy in extreme, and we condemn it outright. It is worthy of condemnation," he added.
Earlier today, BJP leader Amit Malviya also slammed Reddy for meeting Lalu Prasad. He defined their meeting as a "shocking statement on probity in public life by someone aspiring for a high constitutional office".
In a post shared on X, BJP leader said, "B. Sudershan Reddy, former Supreme Court judge and INDI Alliance's joint candidate, recently met fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad, who isn't even a Member of Parliament and has no vote in the VP electoral college. This isn't just terrible optics, it's a shocking statement on probity in public life by someone aspiring for a high constitutional office."
He further targeted retired judges for being silent and called it "hypocrisy". "What's even more telling is the silence of the "usual suspects" -- retired judges and self-proclaimed custodians of constitutional morality. Their hypocrisy stands exposed," Malviya said.
Meanwhile, the Vice Presidential election, scheduled for September 9, will witness a direct contest between Justice (Retd.) B Sudershan Reddy, backed by the INDIA bloc, and NDA's nominee CP Radhakrishnan.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
