{"id":356087,"date":"2025-08-29T10:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T05:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=356087"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T05:22:10","slug":"salwa-judum-justice-reddy-vice-presidential-battle-and-clash-of-narratives-between-bjp-and-india-bloc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/salwa-judum-justice-reddy-vice-presidential-battle-and-clash-of-narratives-between-bjp-and-india-bloc\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Salwa Judum’, Justice Reddy, Vice-Presidential battle and clash of narratives between BJP and INDIA Bloc"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Salwa Judum\u2014a movement dismantled more than a decade ago\u2014returned to dominate headlines in 2025, this time not in the jungles of Bastar in Chhattisgarh but in the corridors of Parliament and national politics<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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File Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As India heads toward the vice-presidential election on September 9 the political debate has taken on a sharp and rather unusual turn turning an otherwise straightforward contest between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc into a referendum on Constitutional values, counter-insurgency methods, and \u2018left wing-right wing\u2019 divide<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of this debate is Justice B. Sudershan Reddy\u2014the retired Supreme Court judge chosen by the INDIA bloc as its candidate for India\u2019s second most important Constitutional post<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NDA claims his direct involvement in the increase of Naxal movement by giving a verdict against Salwa Judum\u2014the state-backed vigilante movement in Chhattisgarh that sought to counter Maoist influence by mobilising tribal youth as armed volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salwa Judum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some, Salwa Judum symbolised local resistance against extremists. To others, it was a reckless experiment that displaced villages, forced recruitment, and brought lawlessness to already fragile regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, Justice Reddy, heading a Supreme Court bench, struck down Salwa Judum as unconstitutional. The judgment declared that arming untrained civilians to fight insurgents violated the basic rights of life and equality guaranteed under the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BJP\u2019s offensive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the naming of Reddy as the INDIA Bloc\u2019s VP candidate, the ruling has resurfaced in the heat of political battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launching a major offensive, Home Minister Amit Shah has accused Justice Reddy of indirectly \u201csupporting Naxalism.\u201d According to Shah, the judgment tied the government\u2019s hands and prolonged the insurgency for another decade. He also argued that the decision \u201cdenied tribals their right to self-defence\u201d and that had Salwa Judum been allowed to continue, \u201cMaoism could have ended by 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such remarks, delivered in speeches across states, are now a part of the BJP\u2019s effort to frame the election as a choice between \u201cnational security\u201d and what it portrays as misplaced judicial activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INDIA Bloc\u2019s response  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Reddy, however, has rejected the suggestion that the court\u2019s ruling weakened India\u2019s fight against Maoists, pointing out that no government since 2011 has claimed the judgment hampered security operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe State has every right to fight violence, but it cannot outsource that responsibility to untrained civilians. The monopoly to wield weapons has always been with the State,\u201d he was quoted as saying, reminding critics that the verdict also protected children\u2019s rights to education, since schools in conflict zones had been occupied by armed forces. For him, the issue was never ideology, but constitutional duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The INDIA bloc has rallied behind Reddy, projecting him as a figure of integrity who represents constitutional morality over partisanship. Leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav have urged MPs to \u201cvote for justice,\u201d while Congress is highlighting his record of standing for social justice. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy turned Justice Reddy\u2019s nomination into a point of pride for southern states, calling him an advocate for OBC rights, chairing committees that expanded opportunities for backward classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This clash has exposed the deeper stakes of the vice-presidential election. For the BJP, the contest is being framed as one between national security and judicial overreach. For the INDIA bloc, Justice Reddy\u2019s candidacy is about protecting the Constitution, standing up for the marginalized, and asserting that the law\u2014not vigilante militias\u2014must guide the state\u2019s fight against extremism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Salwa Judum\u2014a movement dismantled more than a decade ago\u2014returned to dominate headlines in 2025, this time not in the jungles of Bastar in Chhattisgarh but in the corridors of Parliament and national politics As India heads toward the vice-presidential election on September 9 the political debate has taken on a sharp and rather unusual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":356088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15340,15025,36],"tags":[16188,17074,19726,15597],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356089,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356087\/revisions\/356089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/356088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}