Overview

• Justice B. Sudershan Reddy began his campaign in Lucknow, meeting SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders, addressing a joint press event and appealing to MPs to vote by conscience.
• Reddy said backing is coming from beyond the INDIA bloc and cited recent meetings with Arvind Kejriwal and Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin.
• Amit Shah and the BJP escalated attacks over Reddy’s 2011 Salwa Judum judgment, with Shah alleging it aided Naxalism and party units circulating critical videos, while Reddy said the Supreme Court’s verdict speaks for itself.
• Shah defended the proposed 130th Constitutional Amendment as a morality measure and said it sits with a Joint Parliamentary Committee, even as several opposition parties refuse to join the panel.
• The September 9 election pits Reddy against NDA nominee C.P. Radhakrishnan, with parliamentary arithmetic seen favoring the NDA as the opposition casts the race as an ideological fight.