Guwahati: Opposition candidate for the prestigious Vice-Presidential elections B Sudershan Reddy due on September 9 will arrive in Guwahati today.
A packed itinerary, the former Supreme Court Judge will hold parleys with several opposition legislators and discuss a concrete plan of action with an eye on the elections.
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Reddy and his INDIA alliance may not have the numbers – NDA has 422 votes well above the required 394 combining both Houses of Parliament.
But Reddy who is up against NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan will be looking for support from parties in the Telugu speaking states like BRS, YSRCP and TDP.
Reddy being a Telugu speaker is hopeful that an NDA ally like Andhra Pradesh CM’s TDP will lend its support to him.
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Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has already played the regional Telugu card to garner loyalty for the INDIA alliance’s Veep candidate.
However, TDP’s Nara Lokesh made it amply clear that it will not ditch the NDA candidate despite regional sentiment.
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Assam currently has nine BJP members in the Lower and four in the Upper Houses. And with the AGP in tandem with the BJP-led state government, the number gets a spike.
On the contrary, Reddy is only assured of three Congress votes in the Lok Sabha and none in the Rajya Sabha from Assam.
Given this scenario Reddy’s chances to spring up a surprise look bleak.
However, the ex-Supreme Court judge is leaving no stones unturned to seek support.
Taking jabs at his rival who is also the Maharashtra Governor, Reddy says,” This is certainly not just about a contest between me and Radhakrishnan Ji. It is a contest of representing two different ideologies – one which the other side is propagating that here’s a quintessential RSS man. So far as I’m concerned, I do not subscribe to that ideology… I’m essentially a liberal, constitutional, democratic.”
But deep down, even the erudite former judge knows that he lacks the numbers.
Yet, it remains to be seen what course of action Reddy takes recourse to during his Assam trip.