Maharashtra Governor Radhakrishnan, old RSS hand, NDA’s V-P face

The ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) today picked Maharashtra Governor and veteran party leader from Tamil Nadu CP Radhakrishnan as its candidate for the September 9 vice-presidential election.

BJP chief JP Nadda made the announcement after a three-hour meeting of the party parliamentary board attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah.

With this, the BJP has put a spanner in the plans of the Congress-led INDIA bloc to field a non-political joint candidate for country’s second highest constitutional office.

Since Radhakrishnan hails from Tiruppur in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, the state’s ruling DMK will find it hard to oppose his candidature and may prevail on INDIA bloc partners to back him. The state is scheduled to go the polls next year.

“We have been in touch with our NDA partners and other political parties, and hope to reach a consensus on the name of Radhakrishnan, who has 40 years of active public life behind him and is respected across party lines in Tamil Nadu. We will talk to the Opposition,” said Nadda.

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, 68, was sworn in as the Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024. He had earlier served as the Governor of Jharkhand for nearly one and a half years.

During his tenure in Jharkhand, Radhakrishnan had also discharged the functions of the Governor of Telangana and Lt-Governor of Puducherry.

Starting his political life as an RSS swayamsevak, Radhakrishnan became a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1974.

In 1996, he was appointed BJP secretary in Tamil Nadu. He got elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Coimbatore in 1998 and again in 1999.

During his tenure as an MP, Radhakrishnan chaired the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Textiles and served as a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and the Consultative Committee for Finance. Radhakrishnan was also a member of the Parliamentary Special Committee investigating the Stock Exchange Scam.

Between 2004 and 2007, he served as the BJP state president in Tamil Nadu, where he undertook a 19,000-km “Ratha 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.

He also led two more “padayatras” for different causes, with tuberculosis elimination being one of his major goals.

Nadda mentioned how in 2016, after Radhakrishnan was appointed as the chairman of the Coir Board, Kochi, its exports from India reached an all-time high of Rs 2,532 crore.

From 2020 to 2022, he also served as the all-India in-charge of the Kerala BJP.

Nadda highlighted how Radhakrishnan took active interest in social issues as the Jharkhand Governor, a charge he assumed on February 18, 2023. “Within his first four months, he travelled to all 24 districts of Jharkhand, interacting with citizens and district officials to assess socio-economic indicators,” said Nadda.

Oppn meet today

The Opposition will meet to take a call on a joint vice-presidential candidate in New Delhi on Monday. Sources say the meeting is likely to take place in the chambers of LoP in RS Mallikarjun Kharge. The Opposition had earlier said they would field a non-political person as their nominee. The BJP on Sunday said it would talk to the Opposition for a consensus.