Who is CP Radhakrishnan, NDA's pick for Vice President

The BJP-led NDA on Sunday named Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as its nominee for the upcoming Vice Presidential election. The announcement followed a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary board, attended by senior leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The announcement was made by BJP national president and Union Minister JP Nadda, following the sudden resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21 due to health reasons. Dhankhar, 74, stepped down two years into his term, which began in August 2022.

WHO IS CP RADHAKRISHNAN?

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan took oath as the Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024. Prior to this, he served as the Governor of Jharkhand for about one and a half years, according to the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan website. During his time in Jharkhand, he was also given additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry by the President of India.

CP Radhakrishnan has more than four decades of experience in public life and politics in Tamil Nadu. He was born on 20 October 1957 in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur and completed his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

He began his public life as a volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In 1974, he became a State Executive Committee member of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in Tamil Nadu. In 1996, Radhakrishnan was appointed Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu.

Radhakrishnan served two terms as Lok Sabha MP from Coimbatore in 1998 and 1999. During his tenure, he chaired the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Textiles and was a member of the committees on Public Sector Undertakings and Finance.

He was also part of a parliamentary delegation to the UN General Assembly (2004) and the first Indian delegation to Taiwan.

Before becoming the Governor of Jharkhand, he served as the BJP State President in Tamil Nadu from 2004 to 2007. During this time, he led a 93-day, 19,000-km Ratha Yatra, focused on interlinking rivers, removing untouchability, implementing a uniform civil code, fighting terrorism and addressing drug issues.

Radhakrishnan played a key role in public administration during his tenure as Chairman of the Coir Board from 2016 to 2020, overseeing record export figures that reached Rs 2,532 crore. From 2020 to 2022, he was the All India in Charge of BJP for Kerala.

Radhakrishnan has maintained a long-standing interest in sports. During his college years, he was a champion in table tennis and long-distance running. He also actively participated in cricket and volleyball.

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