Ex-SC judge B Sudershan is Oppn's VP candidate

New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy is the joint candidate of the Opposition parties for the Vice-Presidential polls, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Tuesday, as he called the upcoming election for the country's second-highest office an "ideological battle".

Reddy is a former judge of the Supreme Court and the first Lokayukta of Goa. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre in Hyderabad.

"All Opposition parties have decided to have a common candidate; the decision has been taken unanimously. I am happy that all opposition parties have agreed on one name. It is a big achievement for democracy," Kharge said.

"Whenever democracy and the Constitution are under attack, Opposition parties unite to fight against it. So we have decided to field a good candidate in this election," he said.

"He has had a long and eminent legal career, including as Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and Judge of the Supreme Court. He has been a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice," he said. "He is a pro-poor man, and in many of his judgments... he favoured the poor people and also protected the Constitution and fundamental rights," the Congress chief flanked by various opposition leaders including NCP-SP leader Sharad Pawa, CPI-M's M A Baby, TMC's Derek O'Brien, DMK's Tiruchi Siva and SP's Dharmendra Yadav said.

O'Brien later said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had recently left the INDIA bloc, is also supporting Reddy for the Vice-Presidential polls.