NDA-backed CP Radhakrishnan elected 15th Vice-President of India

New Delhi: National Democratic Alliance-backed CP Radhakrishnan was elected the 15th Vice-President of India on Tuesday.

Radhakrishnan defeated INDIA bloc nominee Justice B. Sudershan Reddy by 152 votes in the Vice-Presidential election, which was held between 10 am and 5 pm.

The election saw a voter turnout of 98.20 percent, with 767 MPs casting their votes out of 788. NDA nominee Radhakrishnan secured 452 first-preference votes, while the INDIA bloc candidate Justice Sudershan Reddy received 300. Fifteen votes were declared invalid.

“NDA nominee and Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan got 452 first preference votes. He has been elected as the Vice President of India... Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate Justice Sudershan Reddy secured 300 first preference votes,” Rajya Sabha General Secretary PC Mody said at a press conference.

A total of 13 MPs abstained from voting. The list included seven MPs from the Biju Janata Dal, four from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, one from the Shiromani Akali Dal, and one independent MP.

Earlier in the day, top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and others cast their votes.

The Vice-President’s post had been vacant since July 21, 2025, after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned citing health reasons.

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was serving as the 24th Governor of Maharashtra from July 31, 2024, before being announced as the NDA’s Vice Presidential nominee. He previously served as Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024, and also held additional charges as Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March and July 2024.

A two-time MP from Coimbatore, Radhakrishnan was born on October 20, 1957, in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu. The BJP stalwart holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) before becoming a state committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP’s precursor, in 1974.

In 1996, Radhakrishnan was appointed BJP Tamil Nadu secretary and was later elected as Lok Sabha MP from Coimbatore in 1998 and again in 1999. During his parliamentary career, he chaired the Standing Committee and served on committees for Public Sector Undertakings, Finance, and a special inquiry into the Stock Exchange Scam.

From 2004 to 2007, he was BJP Tamil Nadu state president and led a 19,000-km “Rath Yatra” that lasted 93 days. The campaign sought to highlight issues including interlinking rivers, fighting terrorism, implementing a uniform civil code, eradicating untouchability, and combating narcotics.

Radhakrishnan later served as Chairman of the Coir Board, Kochi, under the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, from 2016 to 2020. During his tenure, coir exports from India reached a record high of ₹25.32 billion. From 2020 to 2022, he was also the BJP’s All-India in-charge for Kerala.

Outside politics, Radhakrishnan was a college-level champion in table tennis and has an interest in cricket and volleyball. He has also travelled widely, visiting countries including the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Egypt, the UAE, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Japan.