Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan is NDA's Vice-Presidential candidate

The BJP on Sunday announced that old RSS hand and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan would be the party’s and the NDA’s candidate to contest for the post of Vice-President.

BJP chief JP Nadda announced his candidature after the BJP Parliamentary Board cleared it today.

Sixty-eight-year-old Radhakrishnan was born in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur and was sworn in as Maharashtra Governor last year.

With the nomination of a Tamil Nadu-born to the second-highest constitutional office in India, the BJP may have put Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK, a major constituent of the Opposition alliance, in a bind over INDIA bloc's decision to field a joint non-political candidate.

"We will talk to the Opposition. We should also get their support, so that together we can ensure an unopposed election for the post of Vice-President. As we said earlier, we have been in touch with them and our senior leaders have contacted them earlier as well and even now, we will remain in touch with them and all our NDA colleagues have supported us. CP Radhakrishnan is our NDA's candidate for Vice-President’s post," said Nadda.

Starting as an RSS Swayamsevak, Radhakrishnan became a State Executive Committee Member of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974.

In 1996, Radhakrishnan was appointed the Secretary of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Coimbatore in 1998. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999.

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

In 2004, Radhakrishnan addressed the UN General Assembly as part of the Parliamentary delegation. He was also a member of the first Parliamentary delegation to Taiwan.

Between 2004 and 2007, he served as the state president of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. In this role, 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.

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the Governor of Maharashtra on 31st July 2024. Prior to his appointment, he served as the Governor of Jharkhand for nearly one-and-a-half years. As the Governor of Jharkhand, Radhakrishnan was appointed by the President of India to discharge the functions of the Governor of Telangana and as the Lt. Governor of Puducherry.

With more than four decades’ experience, he is a respected name in the polity and public life of Tamil Nadu.

In his long years in public life, Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji has distinguished himself with his dedication, humility and intellect. During the various positions he has held, he has always focused on community service and empowering the marginalised. He has done extensive work at… pic.twitter.com/WrbKl4LB9S

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 17, 2025