<h1>Opposition vice-presidential candidate calls race ideological, pledges constitutional duty, defends judgments, backs caste survey for reservations</h1> Opposition candidate in the vice-presidential contest frames the race as ideological, pledging to uphold constitutional duties of the office and arguing the election should ideally be by consensus though current politics are fractured. He emphasizes the vice president's role as Rajya Sabha chair, advocating decorum while acknowledging parliamentary disruptions as a form of dissent. He defends prior judicial opinions-including rulings on internal security and black-money probes-as court judgments rather than personal positions, rejects ministerial allegations against him, and stresses the constitutional importance of 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble. He supports a caste survey as a lawful factual basis for identifying backward classes to shape reservation and socio-economic policy.