Shah targeting Reddy to hide failure to end naxalism: CM Stalin

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday strongly criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for describing INDIA bloc vice-presidential candidate retired Justice P Sudershan Reddy as a “naxal sympathiser,” calling it “a disgraceful attack on a former Supreme Court judge.”

Addressing a meeting of leaders of INDIA bloc, its MPs from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to mobilise support for justice Reddy, Stalin said the BJP was targeting Reddy with “baseless allegations” to divert attention from its inability to tackle extremism.

“Unable to eradicate terrorism, they are scapegoating a man who has spent nearly six decades defending the Constitution and upholding justice,” he charged, while welcoming Reddy to Chennai. Praising him as “eminently qualified” to hold the high constitutional office, Stalin traced his legal career from his days as an advocate at the Andhra Pradesh government in 1971 to his tenure as a Supreme Court judge.

“He has upheld rights, social justice, and constitutional values throughout his career,” the CM said.

“At a time when the Constitution is under attack from the BJP, we need a vice-president who will defend it with courage and independence,” he added.

Warning that the Constitution was “in peril,” Stalin accused the BJP of “weaponising investigative agencies to hound political opponents” and “reducing autonomous bodies into party subsidiaries.”

He also noted, “The BJP wears a Tamil mask while implementing policies against the people of Tamil Nadu.”