‘False narratives comparing ideologies of Nehru, Gandhi, and Ambedkar are not in nation’s interest’: Sudershan Reddy

Opposition Vice Presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy cautioned against the spread of misleading narratives around ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and  Dr B R Ambedkar, saying such discourse is not in the nation’s interest.

Former Supreme Court judge Reddy, while giving an interview to news agency PTI, “My comment is, if you superficially read Gandhi, Ambedkar, and Nehru, some misconceptions and misunderstandings will be in our mind as if they were at loggerheads and they differed radically in their views. It’s not like that.

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Quintessentially, all three of them were great Democrats, Republicans and believed in the ethics and morals of the Constitution. I do not think it would be in the interest of the nation to divide them into three segments, and creating a false narrative is not in the nation’s interest.”

This warning comes at a time when politicians often compare the ideas of these leaders. For example, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Nehru saw reservation as a way to bring people together, while Ambedkar saw it as a tool to achieve social justice.

Reddy on Thursday filed his nomination for the Vice Presidential Election 2025 in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar, SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and several other leaders of the alliance were also present at the nomination.

Reddy is Opposition’s INDIA bloc nominee for the Vice Presidential Election 2025. He is in a direct contest with the BJP-led NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan for the Vice President of India’s post.

While numbers favour NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan, there is an outside chance for Reddy provided he secure the support of some of the NDA’s alliance partners.

Ahead of filing his nomination, Reddy acknowledged numbers are not in his favour but expressed hope that MPs across the party line will support him.

“Numbers matter continues…Of course, I am hopeful. Since I don’t belong to any political party, I believe everyone would support me…I have made it very clear yesterday. It is the battle of ideology…,” he told reporters.

Earlier on Wednesday, CP Radhakrishnan, the National Democratic Alliance nominee, filed his nomination papers for the post of Vice President. He filed his nomination in Parliament House, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP President JP Nadda and other senior leaders in attendance.

The Vice Presidential post fell vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped down on July 21, 2025, citing health concerns.

The Election Commission has scheduled the Vice Presidential election for September 9, with nominations to be filed by August 21 and withdrawals accepted until August 25.