JUSTICE B. SUDERSHAN REDDY, former Supreme Court judge, has stepped out of retirement for another fight. Though the numbers are against him in the vice presidential polls, his candidacy is expected to carry a message for the opposition, which has framed the mid-term contest as an ideological battle.
The 2025 vice presidential race has shaped up as a southern face-off, reflecting the region’s growing national importance. The ruling National Democratic Alliance has fielded veteran BJP leader C.P. Radhakrishnan, a two-time MP and former president of the party’s Tamil Nadu unit. He was also governor of Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Known for his RSS and Jana Sangh background, Radhakrishnan is regarded as a committed party worker with strong organisational skills.
The Radhakrishnan–Reddy contest will not alter the power balance in Delhi, but its significance is symbolic and strategic. By nominating him, the BJP underscores its focus on South India, especially with Tamil Nadu and Kerala assembly polls ahead. The move also blunts the opposition’s rhetoric of a north–south divide after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls—a debate set to flare up again once the delimitation exercise grants northern states more parliamentary seats on the basis of population.
Radhakrishnan’s OBC background also helps the party underline its social outreach strategy, especially after it pre-empted the opposition’s demand for a caste census by announcing it alongside the decennial census. “The BJP’s nominee has been a long-standing politician with vision, commitment and dedication. He belongs to Tamil Nadu, which is a symbol of our ancient cultural heritage,” said BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal.
At 67, Radhakrishnan’s rise from Maharashtra governor to the second-highest constitutional office also signals a ‘course correction’ within the BJP. After the bitter falling-out with Jagdeep Dhankhar, a lateral entrant, the party’s emphasis is back on ideological loyalty. Radhakrishnan has an affable personality that has earned him praise from parties in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Unlike Dhankhar, who was often acrimonious with opposition leaders, Radhakrishnan—with his legislative experience—can be both conciliatory and firm.
His elevation also recalibrates the social and regional balance at the top. President Droupadi Murmu belongs to a tribal community in Odisha; the likely vice president is a member of the Other Backward Classes in Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is part of an OBC community in Gujarat. This creates space for a northern, upper-caste leader to head the BJP organisation—though the leadership may spring another surprise by elevating one of its OBC frontrunners.
The delay in selecting a new BJP president is talked about in hushed tones amid rumoured differences with the RSS. Modi’s strong invocation of the RSS from the Red Fort—unprecedented for a prime minister—along with Radhakrishnan’s nomination suggest fresh efforts to strengthen the BJP-RSS bond. Party leaders point out that changes in the Union cabinet may follow only after the new party president is named. With an eye on the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and the looming succession question, the BJP may pick someone who could steer the party through politically choppy waters. Modi has already dropped sufficient hints that he would stay on: at the Red Fort, he announced that he would declare India’s rise as the third-largest economy from the same venue.
Southern parties could find themselves doing a tightrope walk during the VP contest. Radhakrishnan’s nomination will put pressure on the DMK and other Tamil parties to support him, given his ‘son of the soil’ image. The DMK, though, has announced that it would stand with the INDIA bloc.
By naming a jurist rather than a politician, the opposition hopes to strengthen its credibility and hold its ranks together. Justice Reddy, 79, began his career as an advocate in Hyderabad before being appointed a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He later served as chief justice of the Gauhati High Court, and was a judge of the Supreme Court from 2007 to 2011. He is known for having delivered several crucial judgements, including the one that resulted in the disbanding of the vigilante group Salwa Judum—a measure that, according to the BJP, weakened the fight against Naxalism.
The contest has provided opposition parties their first opportunity after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to come together for a common cause. The NDA candidate may find it easy sailing in terms of numbers, but the margin of victory after the polling on September 9 would send out a symbolic message ahead of the Bihar polls, due later this year.
Reddy is also a strategic choice. He was born in undivided Andhra Pradesh and lives in Telangana. Andhra Pradesh is now ruled by Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party—a key NDA constituent whose support was crucial in the formation of the third Modi government. With Reddy in the fray, other Telugu parties such as the YSR Congress (which has already backed the NDA candidate) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi now need to clarify their stance.
According to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the contest went beyond numbers. “This vice presidential poll is an ideological battle, as [Justice Reddy] reflects the values that shaped our freedom movement, and the values on which the Constitution and democracy have been anchored,” he said.
The BJP has countered the ideological argument, though. “The opposition itself is ideologically bankrupt,” Agarwal said. “It is an alliance of opportunist politicians and leaders. It is devoid of vision, leadership or national interest, and only wants to oppose every move of the Modi government.”