Ranchi: Opposition vice-presidential nominee B Sudershan Reddy on Saturday appealed to all MPs to support his candidature “on merit, beyond party lines,” and said he was even willing to meet BJP’s top leadership if allowed. He stressed that the upcoming election should be “one of the most decent and fair polls in recent years.”

Reddy criticised the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, questioning what he termed as “intensive exclusion,” and warned that democracy cannot be reduced to majoritarianism. He also alleged constitutional violations in the arrest of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, saying his dignity was “crushed” during ED’s money laundering probe, though the court later granted him bail.

Calling the VP polls “a fight for principles, not victory or defeat,” Reddy said there is no provision for a whip in this election and urged MPs to vote independently.

The vice-presidential election on September 9 will see a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan, a BJP veteran from Tamil Nadu, and Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge from Telangana.