I am a liberal democrat, not an RSS man: Sudershan Reddy

The Opposition's candidate for the vice presidential election, B. Sudershan Reddy said it was not a contest between two individuals but two ideologies, asserting that while his opponent is a quintessential RSS man, he is "far, far away" from it.

"I am essentially a liberal constitutional democrat. This is the area, or rather the arena, for the contest where the fight goes on," he said.

Honoured to be fielded as the joint candidate of a rainbow of opposition parties, he said his candidature was a unanimous choice that signalled diversity and represented more than 63-64 per cent of the country's population in terms of voting strength.

He also said that it was the Congress that initially proposed his name for the vice president's poll, but later the INDIA bloc parties and other opposition parties extended their support to his candidature, which was an honour for him.

Starting his campaign on Friday with a meeting with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Reddy said he would be travelling to Chennai on Sunday and then to other parties of the country to meet all the MPs of different parties to seek their vote in his support for the September 9 vice presidential election. Excerpts from an interview:

Q. It has been argued that top constitutional posts should be filled by consensus to reflect national unity. So what are your views on this?

A. I wish there could have been a consensus. But you know the polity as it stands is a fractured one. In such circumstances, perhaps it was inevitable, leading to this contest.

Q. How would you describe the current state of democracy and the government-Opposition ties? You know, currently we see a lot of strain.

A. Earlier, we used to talk about a deficit economy. There is a deficit in democracy. I do not say that India is no more a democratic country. I don't subscribe to that. We still continue to be a constitutional democracy, but under strain.

Q. And about the government-Opposition ties?

A. I wish it could have been better. Instead of reducing the discourse to the level we see today, it could have been better. Earlier, opposition parties and the party in power used to coordinate on many national issues. Unfortunately, we don't find that today.

Q. You have said that this election is not about one individual, but about the idea of India. Can you elaborate on this?

A. Yes. Certainly not about a contest between me and Shri Radhakrishnan ji (NDA's VP candidate). It is a contest representing two different ideologies.

One, which the other side themselves are propagating, that here is a quintessential RSS man. Therefore, the country should elect him as the vice president. So far as I am concerned, I do not subscribe to that ideology and I am far, far, far, far away from it. I am essentially a liberal constitutional democrat. This is the area or rather the arena, for the contest where the fight goes on.

Q. What do you have to say on the politics of disruptions that is emerging as a regular feature now in Parliament?

A. You see, the difficulty is this. Somebody, an eminent journalist, asked my friend Shri Arun Jaitley when they were frequently disturbing the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed by (Jaitley) the departed soul who is not amongst us today were that -- disruption also is a legitimate political activity and a parliamentary practice. Whether a particular disruption at a particular point in time was correct or not is a different matter. But disruptions do take place.

Disruption is nothing but one form of dissent. If you are not allowed to speak or express your views, this is one form of speaking. That's how I look at the disruption. Not that I wish that disruption should become an essential and integral part of the democratic process.

Q. Opposition parties have unanimously chosen you as their joint candidate. So, what factors weighed in your favour that make you stand out?

A. I feel greatly honoured when I look at the rainbow of the political parties unanimously agreeing on my name and sponsoring my candidature. But, there was nothing surprising as such. All of them knew my work. All of them have watched me for quite some time. They must have used their discretion and thought it fit that I should be their candidate. And I feel greatly honoured for more than one reason.

First, it represents diversity. Secondly, the unanimous choice. Thirdly, in terms of voting strength, if you make an analysis, they represent more than 63-64 per cent of the population. What else could be an honour?