C P Radhakrishnan elected 15th Vice President
New Delhi, Sep 9: NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan was elected the next vice president of India on Tuesday as he bagged 452 votes against the opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy's 300, winning the contest with a bigger-than-expected margin, indicating cross-voting from the rival camp.
Announcing the result of the vice presidential election this evening, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer P C Mody said 767 MPs cast their votes out of the total valid electors of 781 in a turnout of 98.2 percent.
He said 752 ballots were valid and 15 were invalid, bringing down the required majority of first preference votes to 377.
Though the victory of Radhakrishnan (67), currently the Maharashtra governor and a seasoned leader with an RSS background and decades-long stint first in the Jana Sangh and then the BJP in Tamil Nadu, was a foregone conclusion due to the ruling alliance's numerical edge but the extent of his victory margin is a setback to the opposition.
Hours before the result, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh had claimed that the Opposition has stood united. "All of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting," he said. The final tally in favour of Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge, was 300, decidedly less than expected by the opposition camp, as some MPs unaligned to the two blocs had also announced their support to him.
BJP leaders were quick to claim that at least 15 opposition MPs voted in favour of Radhakrishnan. There were hints from the ruling alliance that some opposition MPs deliberately cast invalid votes.
"I declare C P Radhakrishnan elected to the post of Vice President of India, and the results will be communicated to the Election Commission," Mody said.
BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal claimed that "nearly 40 opposition MPs" listened to the voice of their conscience and voted in "some manner" in support of the NDA candidate, showing a wider acceptance for him. His assertion of support from 40 opposition MPs appeared to include several invalid votes.
Some opposition leaders had appealed to MPs' conscience in the polls to support Reddy, and the senior BJP leader's comments were seen as a retort to them.
"Congratulations to Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji on winning the 2025 Vice Presidential election. His life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.
"I am confident that he will be an outstanding VP, who will strengthen our Constitutional values and enhance Parliamentary discourse," he said.
Radhakrishnan would be India's 15th vice president when he is sworn in to the post.
Reddy said he humbly accepts the result and wishes vice president-elect Radhakrishnan the very best as he embarks upon his tenure.
The poll was necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21, almost two years before his term was to end.
The electoral college for the vice presidential election comprises a total of 788 members - 245 from the Rajya Sabha and 543 from the Lok Sabha.
The present strength of the electoral college is 781 as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP-led NDA had on paper 427 MPs in its alliance, with the YSR Congress also extending the support of its 11 MPs to its candidate. Some MPs representing smaller parties also backed Radhakrishnan.
The Congress congratulated the NDA nominee on his win, and said its ideological battle against the ruling alliance will continue "undiminished".
RADHAKRISHNAN ROOTED IN RSS
Strongly rooted in the RSS and the BJP, Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, who was on Tuesday elected as the 15th Vice President of India, brings along a rich political and administrative experience which will prove handy in his role as the ex officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
Seen as a soft-spoken and non-confrontational leader, the 67-year-old Radhakrishnan succeeds Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned as vice president on July 21, taking everyone by surprise. He is the third leader from Tamil Nadu to occupy the coveted post.
Dhankhar was known for his frequent run-ins with the Opposition and had even faced an impeachment notice from them.
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.
Radhakrishnan joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (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.
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.
Radhakrishnan is considered an untainted leader with rich political and administrative experience for the vice president's office, and this would also prove useful as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
"Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji has rich experience as MP and Governor of various states. His Parliamentary interventions were always incisive. During his gubernatorial tenures, he focused on addressing challenges faced by common citizens. These experiences ensured that he has vast knowledge of legislative and Constitutional matters. I am confident he will be an inspiring Vice President," Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said after the NDA chose Radhakrishnan as the vice presidential candidate.
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.
Radhakrishnan's candidature also seeks to disarm the Opposition of a key political narrative, as he is the first OBC leader from South India to be named for the vice-president's office.
An official profile circulated by the NDA projects Radhakrishnan as a leader who is eminent, knowledgeable and untainted by any legal accusations.
Radhakrishnan's political innings started with his association with organisations such as the RSS and the Jan Sangh.
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.
Born on October 20, 1957, at Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.
Starting as an RSS swayamsevak at the age of 16, he became a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974.
Between 2004 and 2007, Radhakrishnan served as the Tamil Nadu BJP president. In this role, he undertook a 19,000-km 'Rath Yatra' that lasted for 93 days.
The Yatra was organised to highlight his demands for the linking of all Indian rivers, eradicating terrorism, implementing a uniform civil code, removing untouchability, and combating the menace of narcotic drugs, some of the key planks of the BJP and the RSS.
CONFIDENT RADHAKRISHNAN WILL BE OUTSTANDING VICE PRESIDENT: PM MODI
Congratulating BJP-led NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan on winning the vice presidential poll, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed confidence that he will be an outstanding vice president.
Modi said on X that Radhakrishnan's life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised.
The prime minister said, "Congratulations to Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji on winning the 2025 Vice Presidential election. His life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised. I am confident that he will be an outstanding VP, who will strengthen our Constitutional values and enhance Parliamentary discourse."
A total of 767 MPs cast their ballot in a turnout of 98.2 per cent, of which 752 were valid and 15 votes were deemed invalid, Mody said. One postal ballot was cancelled as the MP declined to cast the vote.
