BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised former SC judge Sudershan Reddy for meeting fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav, calling it “hypocrisy in extreme.” The Vice Presidential election on September 9 will see Reddy face NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan.
New Delhi: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday strongly criticised the INDIA bloc candidate and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy for meeting Lalu Prasad, the convicted fodder scam politician.
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad 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 to a newspaper article where Reddy stated,
“Vote for me to save the soul of the nation: Opposition VP pick”,
Prasad said,
“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.”
Targeting Reddy’s meeting with Lalu Prasad, Prasad questioned,
“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 also highlighted Lalu Yadav’s legal troubles, stating,
“Lalu Yadav is convicted not only in the fodder scam but is also chargesheeted in the ‘land for job scam’ case.”
He further urged Reddy, saying,
“Please don’t 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.”
Earlier on Monday, BJP leader Amit Malviya also criticised Reddy for meeting Lalu Prasad. Malviya described the meeting as
“a shocking statement on probity in public life by someone aspiring for a high constitutional office.”
In a post shared on X, Malviya wrote,
“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 criticised the silence of retired judges, saying,
“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.”
The Vice Presidential election is scheduled for September 9, and will see a direct contest between Justice (Retd.) B Sudershan Reddy, supported by the INDIA bloc, and NDA’s candidate CP Radhakrishnan.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Sudershan Reddy
