Kharge to C P Radhakrishnan: Give space to opposition, don't yield to govt pressure

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge co-ngratulated BJP's candidate C P Radhakrishnan for winning the VP election, even as he reminded the incoming Vice-President that the high office needed to be revitalised to reflect independence, and urged him to accommodate the opposition and not yield to govt pressure.

He chose the occasion to underline that the election was necessitated by Jagdeep Dhankhar's "unceremonious" resignation that remained unexplained.

Kharge said, "The Vice-President, the second highest Constitutional office in the order of precedence, must be revitalised to reflect independence, fairness, and strength in safeguarding Democratic values."

As he congratulated the opposition's candidate B Sudershan Reddy for a "spirited and principled fight", the Congress chief said, "This was more than an election. It was a battle of ideology, reaffirming that govts with authoritarian tendencies must be checked to protect our Co-nstitution and democracy ."

Reddy said he humbly accepted the defeat and emphasised that "democracy is strengthened not by victory alone, but by the spirit of dialogue, dissent, and participation". "This journey has been a profound honour, offering me the opportunity to stand for the values that have guided my life - constitutional morality, justice, and the dignity of every individual," he said.