The nominee for the vice presidential election from the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, B Sudershan Reddy, encountered allegations from the Congress party, which labeled him as the ‘yes man’ of the then Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar when he was appointed as the inaugural Lokayukta of the western state. The 79-year-old former Supreme Court judge was announced on Tuesday as the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s candidate for the vice presidential election, competing against NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan. Leaders from the Congress and NCP had voiced their objections to Reddy’s appointment during his oath-taking ceremony as Goa’s first Lokayukta on March 13, 2013. Reddy took the oath of secrecy from the then Goa governor B V Wanchoo, with Parrikar present at the event. Opposition MLAs chose to boycott the swearing-in ceremony. Pratapsinh Rane, who was the leader of the opposition in the Goa Assembly at that time and participated in the selection process for the Lokayukta, attended the swearing-in ceremony. Reddy subsequently refuted the accusations made by the Opposition, asserting that he was visiting Goa for the first time in 19 years and was unfamiliar with anyone in the state. Parrikar remarked that he had only seen Reddy’s photograph when it was published in the newspapers.Reddy resigned from his position within six months, citing personal reasons.
