National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate CP Radhakrishnan has defeated the Opposition’s B Sudershan Reddy to win the Vice President election.
He has become the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar, who abruptly resigned from the post, prompting the elections.
Counting of votes in the vice presidential election began at 6 PM on Tuesday after over 98 per cent of MPs exercised their franchise in the contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy.
Brisk voting was witnessed earlier in the day, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being the first to cast his ballot. The elections concluded at 5 pm with over 98 percent of turnout. Twelve MPs out of 781 did not vote.
Joined RSS as teenager, served as Maharashtra Governor
Radhakrishnan’s political innings started with his association with organisations such as the RSS and the Jan Sangh. He joined the RSS as a teenager and rose through the ranks in the organisation and later in the BJP, gaining acceptability in the party and the state.
He took up student politics and has since used politics as a medium to serve the people.
Radhakrishnan’s track record of holding electoral, organisational and constitutional responsibilities shows that he is set to create history as the vice president of India.
He was sworn in as the governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024. Before this, he served as the governor of Jharkhand for nearly one and a half years.
Described as a ‘Pachai Tamizhan’ (true-blue Tamil) by well-wishers, Radhakrishnan was serving as the Governor of Maharashtra when he was named as the vice presidential nominee of the BJP-led NDA.
A two-term member of the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore during the tenure of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Radhakrishnan came close to becoming a Union minister, but had to lose out to fellow Tamilan Pon Radhakrishnan in 1998 after some confusion over his name by the then floor managers of the BJP.
Born on October 20, 1957, at Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
A member of the socially dominant and economically prosperous Kongu Vellalar Gounder community, he became the secretary of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit in 1996 and served as the party’s state unit president between 2003 and 2006.
An avid sportsperson, Radhakrishnan was a college champion in table tennis and a long-distance runner. He also enjoys cricket and volleyball.
The Tamil Nadu leader is said to be held in high esteem across party lines in his state, resulting in the BJP giving him multiple gubernatorial assignments in Jharkhand, Telangana, Maharashtra and Puducherry.
