Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 17
Maharashtra Governor and senior BJP leader from Tamil Nadu C P Radhakrishnan will be the NDA’s Vice President candidate.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, widely known as CP Radhakrishnan, hails from Tamil Nadu and is a former MP from Coimbatore. His grassroots connections and unwavering loyalty to BJP shaped his career during the transformative years of the party in the South.
Radhakrishnan has served as the President of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu state unit. At a time when the party had limited electoral reach in the Dravidian-dominated political setup, he worked to build organisational strength, mobilising cadres and keeping the party’s flag flying in challenging circumstances.
He was Jharkhand Governor in 2023 and then shifted to Maharashtra in July 2024.
Announcing the nomination, BJP president JP Nadda said that a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi finalised the name of CP Radhakrishnan after extensive discussions. Nadda expressed confidence that opposition parties would extend their support to the NDA’s candidate.
The mid-term vice-presidential election has been necessitated necessary following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar last month. It will be held on September 9. The last date for filing nominations has been set for August 22.
With Tamil Nadu’s Assembly elections scheduled for 2026, Radhakrishnan’s nomination is likely to give political strength to the BJP in the state. After elected, Radhakrishnan would be the first Tamil to become the Vice President after R Venkataraman, who was the Vice President from 1984-87.
