There cannot be a party whip on whom to vote: B Sudershan Reddy

Guwahati: INDIA bloc's candidate for the Vice President position, B Sudershan Reddy said even as the Constitution of the country was being drafted, the revision of the electoral rolls had begun, from September 1947.

Reddy was in Guwahati on Friday, he said, "The idea of the universal adult franchise came in 1948 and by then, the electoral rolls were being drafted.”

Reddy added, “There is a saying that people of India first got the right to vote and then became citizens of the country, but now this has gone topsy-turvy. The Election Commission of India (ECI) as a constitutional body tasked with the responsibility to hold free and fair elections in the country.”

He added that there cannot be anything pre- designed to exclude anyone on the grounds of caste, religion, community or gender from participating in the election. “Electoral rolls do not talk about caste or community.”

He refrained from commenting on Special Intensive Revision of Electoral rolls citing that the matter is with the Supreme Court’s.

When asked about both his prospects, he said, “there cannot be a party whip on whom to vote. The electoral college consists of parliament. From the response I got from the members of parliament, media and civil society I am sure to win.”