Overview

• In Ranchi on August 30, B. Sudarshan Reddy met Chief Minister Hemant Soren and JMM–Congress leaders, after which Soren announced full support.
• Reddy said he has sent individual appeals to every MP in both Houses and is ready to meet the BJP leadership if permitted.
• A day earlier in Mumbai, he received public backing from Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and other Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders.
• Five Left parties issued a joint appeal urging electors to back Reddy to safeguard constitutional values and India's syncretic culture.
• The September 9 election sets Reddy against NDA nominee C. P. Radhakrishnan, who holds the arithmetic advantage, even as a Bastar victims' group urged MPs to oppose Reddy over his 2011 Salwa Judum ruling.