“If the roads fall silent, Parliament will become unruly”: Sudershan Reddy echoes Ram Manohar Lohia

Former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, the Opposition candidate for vice president, recalled socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia’s famous statement 'अगर सड़क खामोश हो जाए, तो संसद आवारा हो जाएगी' ('If the roads fall silent, Parliament will become unruly’).

And therefore, he said, he appreciated Congress leader — and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha — Rahul Gandhi, who does not let the roads become silent and forces the government to take decisions.

Reddy was speaking with the leaders of the INDIA bloc in the Central Hall of the parliament building on Wednesday, 20 August.

"I am a little nervous, a little excited and thrilled," he said. "There is no limit to my happiness. I listen to all of you, each one of you, carefully when you are dealing with various issues. I follow most of you, maybe all, to know what is happening in the country."

Recalling Dr Lohia's quote, Reddy said, "Rahul Gandhi-ji does not let the streets go silent. Facing one challenge after another has become a part of his journey."

The vice-presidential candidate noted, for instance, how Gandhi has kept alive discussion of the caste census. "He (Rahul Gandhi) successfully persuaded the Telangana government to do it (caste census) in a systematic manner. When this work was completed and I was presenting the report, I said it would be a challenge for the Centre... And finally the Centre agreed to conduct the caste census!" he added.

Gandhi, for his part, found something else in common with the former Supreme Court justice:

"I happened to look inside his pocket, and to my surprise, he had a copy of the Constitution of India. He carries it everywhere. He mentioned that he has been carrying the copy for 52 years and emphasised that in any conversation, the Constitution has the final say," Gandhi said.

He also went on to signal the next big issue — coincidentally a Constitutional amendment — looming for the Opposition when he said there is a lot of noise over the new bills that the BJP is proposing.

The LoP said, "We are going back to the medieval period, when the king could remove anyone at will. If the (BJP) government does not like someone's face, it can ask the ED to arrest him, and a democratically elected person can be removed (from the post) within 30 days."

He said that after "stealing" the elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, the BJP is looking to "steal" the mandate in Bihar as well — but the public has now understood the ploy that is the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and will not let this happen.  

Meanwhile, formally introducing Reddy to all the gathered political leaders, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We, the Opposition parties, are united in support of Justice Reddy. We are confident that his wisdom, integrity and dedication will inspire and guide our nation towards a future based on justice and unity."

Appealing to all MPs to support Justice Reddy's candidature, Kharge said, "We urge every member of Parliament to join us in this historic effort to protect and preserve the values ​​that make our democracy vibrant and resilient."

Parliament has become a tool to advance the ruling party's ideology, Kharge lamented, as many important bills have been passed amid a din and without proper discussion.

The Congress president said, "To resist and take decisive action against these encroachments in Parliament, the country needs an exemplary, impartial judge like Justice B. Sudershan Reddy as Vice President of India. His nomination represents our collective resolve to protect and uphold the democratic ideals that define India.''

The elections are scheduled for 9 September.