'His willingness to take the initiative to fight for truth and justice and his willingness to cross swords with anyone for a just cause.'
The 2025 vice presidential election presents a compelling Constitutional contest between two distinct candidates representing India's political divide. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance has named Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan as its nominee, while the INDIA bloc has unanimously selected former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy.
Reddy's "extraordinary journey" -- from the agricultural fields of rural Andhra Pradesh to the Supreme Court of India -- states one of his batchmates at Osmania University where they studied law together, has made him the Opposition's consensus candidate.
His reputation for fairness, Constitutional expertise and administrative acumen convinced leaders across the INDIA bloc that the retired judge was best placed to embody their vision of Constitutional governance and impart integrity to India's federal structure.
The Constitutional Scholar Forged in College Corridors
The phone rang in a quiet Hyderabad home on Tuesday morning, August 19, bringing news that would thrust a 79-year-old retired Supreme Court judge back into the national spotlight.
When Justice B Sudershan Reddy received confirmation of his nomination as the INDIA bloc's vice-presidential candidate, his response was characteristically measured: 'I am very, very happy. Thank you.'
For those who have known Justice Reddy throughout his remarkable journey from the agricultural fields of Ranga Reddy district to the highest echelons of India's judiciary, Tuesday's announcement was both surprising and predictable.
Surprising because the soft-spoken judge has never sought political office and predictable because his reputation for Constitutional integrity and administrative excellence made him an obvious choice for Opposition leaders seeking a unifying candidate.
The story of how B Sudershan Reddy became the unanimous choice of 26 Opposition parties begins not in Delhi's political corridors but in the classrooms of Osmania University's law college in the 1960s, where a young student earned a nickname that would prove prophetic, says one of his classmates from their law school days.
The Making of 'Turram Khan'
A classmate from Osmania University, also another retired judge, recalls how the young law student earned a striking nickname: "One of the first freedom fighters of Hyderabad, a person called Turram Khan, fought against the British and the Nizam of Hyderabad. He was the first person to start the independent struggle in India, some believe. During our college days, Sudershan was fondly called 'Turram Khan'."
"The name reflected not only admiration for Sudershan's intelligence and leadership, but also a recognition of his tendency to take the initiative and stand out in any group," he recalls.
The nickname stuck because it captured something essential about the young law student's character -- "his willingness to take the initiative to fight for truth and justice and his willingness to cross swords with anyone for a just cause."
Another classmate from Osmania University, retired Justice P Swaroop Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh high court, remembers those formative years: "He was my classmate -- he was a brilliant fellow -- High court judge earlier than me from the bar. Then he was the chief justice of the Gauhati high court. Then judge of the Supreme Court."
The admiration in his voice is unmistakable as he continues: "He was very intelligent and a dominating personality. He was a very good advocate."
From Bar to Bench: A Meteoric Rise
Born on July 8, 1946 in Akula Mylaram village into a farming family, young Sudershan grew up in rural Andhra Pradesh.
In 1971, he graduated from Osmania University, enrolled as an advocate, and began practising civil and Constitutional law under K Pratap Reddy, one of Andhra Pradesh's leading senior advocates. His practice soon extended to labour, service, and administrative law.
He was appointed government pleader for the Andhra Pradesh high court from 1988 to 1990 and briefly served as additional standing counsel for the central government in 1990 -- an experience that offered him valuable insights into governance and the executive.
In 1995, he was elevated as a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh high court. A decade later, on December 5, 2005, he became chief justice of the Gauhati high court.
The pinnacle of his career came on January 12, 2007, when he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of India, serving until his retirement on July 8, 2011.
During his Supreme Court tenure, Justice Reddy authored judgments that underscored his reputation for fairness and Constitutional fidelity.
The most significant was the 2011 Salwa Judum judgment (along with Justice S S Nijjar in the Nandini Sundar vs State of Chhattisgarh), which disbanded a State-backed militia -- the Salwa Judum militia as illegal and unconstitutional -- and reaffirmed the rights of tribals against state excesses.
Prodyut Bordoloi, the Congress MP from Assam's Nagaon constituency, witnessed Justice Reddy's tenure at the Gauhati high court firsthand. "He was always considered to be very fair, very rational and never influenced by any political ideology."
"Justice Sudershan Reddy was always respected," Bordoloi adds. "He was an epitome of fairness and his judgments were always very fair, upright and rooted in Constitutional principles."
The Goa Experiment: Principle Over Position
Perhaps no episode in Justice Reddy's career better illustrates his character than his brief but principled tenure as Goa's first Lokayukta. He assumed charge in March 2013 but resigned just seven months later in October, citing personal reasons.
The resignation triggered political controversy and legal challenges, but the Bombay high court upheld the process, affirming that he had acted within his rights.
Goa AAP president Amit Palyekar reflects on that period: "People who come from the judiciary, who are upright people and who have held a post like this -- more particularly when the system is changing, transforming, and then you become part of the transforming system -- I think you cannot choose a better person than somebody like him (for the post of vice president)."
His later assignments include serving as chairman of Telangana's caste census panel and as Supreme Court-appointed oversight authority for Karnataka's mining environmental restoration plan, both sensitive and politically charged responsibilities that required balance and Constitutional rigour.
The Unanimous Choice
When Opposition leaders gathered to select their vice presidential candidate, Justice Reddy's name emerged from extensive consultations across party lines. Bordoloi explains the reasoning: "Obviously his track record, his personality, his deep abiding faith in the Indian Constitution rather than any political or sectarian ideology favoured his candidature."
"He's a man of stature and a man of repute, so INDIA alliance partners chose him," says Bordoloi even as he refuses to disclose the names of other contenders considered by the INDIA bloc before unanimously choosing Reddy.
The Congress MP emphasises that this wasn't about regional considerations or political calculations: "These are all people reading between the lines. I don't think any such sectarian or regional consideration should matter."
"His track record, his personality, his stature clinched the deal. Everybody zeroed in on him," says Bordoloi in response to if the INDIA bloc made it a South versus South contest.
This assessment aligns with what his former classmate P Swaroop Reddy believes makes Justice Reddy the ideal choice for the vice presidential role: "He would be wonderful because he knows a lot about law and the Constitution thoroughly. He is very good in administrative and Constitutional law and has a lot of command over these matters. He can control the Rajya Sabha very well and legally take specific and correct steps."
A Constitutional Custodian for Turbulent Times
"Throughout his rise to prominence, Justice Reddy never forgot his agricultural roots or the values that shaped him," says the batchmate who narrated the Turram Khan story. "His approach to justice remained grounded in the belief that Constitutional principles should serve the common people, not abstract legal theories."
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge framed the choice in ideological terms: 'This vice presidential contest is an ideological battle, and all the Opposition parties agreed on this. That is why we have nominated B Sudershan Reddy as the joint candidate.'
As Justice Reddy prepares to file his nomination on August 21 for the September 9 contest, his candidature represents more than just political strategy -- it embodies the opposition's vision of constitutional governance.
"In an era when institutional independence faces unprecedented challenges, the selection of a judge whose career has been defined by fairness and integrity sends a powerful message," says his Osmania batchmate.
His journey from the boy called 'Turram Khan' in college corridors to potential vice president of India illustrates both personal achievement and democratic possibility.
"Whether addressing the Rajya Sabha or upholding Constitutional proprieties," says P Swaroop Reddy, "Justice Reddy's record suggests he would bring the same principled approach that earned him respect across political lines throughout his judicial career."