C. P. Radhakrishnan

Last updated

R. Sumathi
​
(m. 1985)​
C. P. Radhakrishnan
Shri C P Radhakrishnan, Honourable Vice President of India.jpg
Official portrait, 2025
15th Vice President of India
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 September 2025
Children2
Residence Vice President's Enclave, New Delhi
Alma mater V. O. Chidambaram College (BBA)
Occupation

Chandrapuram Ponnusami Radhakrishnan (born 4 May 1957) is an Indian politician serving as 15th and current Vice President of India since 12 September 2025. He previously served as the Governor of various states, and as a member of parliament.

Contents

Born in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu in 1957, Radhakrishnan obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from V. O. Chidambaram College in Thoothukudi. He has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Jana Sangh since his youth. In 1974, he became part of the Jan Sangh's state executive committee in Tamil Nadu, and later became part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), when it was founded in 1980.

Representing the BJP, Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Coimbatore in the 1998 and 1999 general elections. Since then, he had unsuccessfully contested three general elections from the same constitutency in 2004, 2014, and 2019. He served as the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP from 2003 to 2006.

Radhakrishnan was appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand in February 2023 and served in the position till July 2024. He also held additional charges as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry in 2024. He served as the Governor of Maharashtra from July 2024 to September 2025. Following the resignation of the vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar in August 2025, Radhakrishnan was named as the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance for the 2025 Indian vice presidential election. In the elections held on 9 September 2025, he defeated B. Sudarshan Reddy and was sworn in as the vice president on 12 September 2025.

Early life

Radhakrishnan was born on 4 May 1957 to C. K. Ponnusamy and K. Janaki in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu. [1] [2] He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from V. O. Chidambaram College in Thoothukudi. [3] [4] Since the age of 16, he has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. [5] [6]

Political career

In 1974, Radhakrishnan was elected to the Jan Sangh's state executive committee. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after it was founded in 1980, and became an aide to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. [7]

Member of parliament (1998-2004)

In the 1998 elections, Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing Coimbatore. The election was held in the aftermath of the 1998 Coimbatore bombings. [8] He defeated the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate by a margin of 144,676 votes. He was one of three BJP candidates to win in Tamil Nadu as a part of the party's alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). [9] Representing the BJP, he won the 1999 elections from the same consitutency as a part of the DMK-led alliance. [10] [11] He was part of a parliamentary delegation to the United Nations, and addressed the 58th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 20 October 2003. [12] He was a member of the parliamentary committee for public sector undertakings from 1998 to 2004 and a member of the parliamentary consultative committee for finance. [6]

Party chief and later years (2005-2022)

Ahead of the 2004 general elections, he was among the BJP's state leaders who worked on forming an alliance with the AIADMK in 2004 after the DMK exited from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). [5] [13] His tenure in the Parliament of India ended following his defeat in the 2004 general election to K. Subbarayan of the Communist Party of India. [6] [14] He was appointed as the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP in 2004 and served in the position till 2006. As the president, he took a rath yatra for 93 days, advocating the linkage of Indian rivers, eradicating untouchability, and campaigning against terrorism in India. He covered all the parliamentary constituencies of Tamil Nadu during his journey, which faced criticism from the ruling DMK. He was also involved in the organising of the Kerala state unit of the BJP during the late 2000s. [15] [16] In 2012, he faced court arrest in Mettupalayam for protesting inaction against culprits who had assaulted an RSS activist. [17]

Radhakrishnan was announced as the BJP candidate for Coimbatore in the 2014 general elections. He secured second place after polling 389,701 votes, the highest among the BJP candidates in Tamil Nadu. He contested as the party's candidate from the same constituency in the 2019 general election and lost to Ganapathi P. Rajkumar of the DMK. [5] [18] He was the chairman of the Coir Board of India, which comes under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, from 2016 to 2020. [6] [19] He also served as a member of the BJP's national executive. [6] [20]

Governorship (2023–2025)

On 12 February 2023, president Droupadi Murmu appointed Radhakrishnan as the governor of Jharkhand, succeeding Ramesh Bais, and he took office on 18 February. [21] [22] Following the resignation of Tamilisai Soundararajan, he held additional responsibilities as the governor of Telangana and as lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 19 March 2024. [23] [24] [25] On 27 July 2024, he was appointed as governor of Maharashtra. [26] Jishnu Dev Varma, Santosh Gangwar, and Kuniyil Kailashnathan, took over his positions in Telangana, Jharkhand, and Puducherry, respectively. [27] [28] [29] [30]

Vice Presidency (2025–present)

CP Radhakrishnan with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after taking the oath of office as the 15th Vice President of India, 2025 The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu administered the Oath of Office of Vice President of India to Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan at a Swearing-in-Ceremony held at Ganatantra Mandap, in Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 12, 2025.jpg
CP Radhakrishnan with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after taking the oath of office as the 15th Vice President of India, 2025

On 17 August 2025, following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, BJP national president J. P. Nadda announced Radhakrishnan's candidacy in the 2025 vice presidential election. [31] He was endorsed by all NDA member parties, including the AIADMK, JD(U), NCP, TDP, SS, and non-member parties, such as the YSRCP. [32] [33] He ran against Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate B. Sudarshan Reddy. [34] The polling and results for elections were announced on 9 September 2025 and he emerged victorious defeating Reddy by 152 votes. He polled 452 valid votes. [35] He took oath as the 15th Vice President on 12 September 2025. [36]

Personal life

Radhakrishnan married R. Sumathi on 25 November 1985, and they have two children. [1] He practised long-distance running, and played cricket, table tennis, and volleyball. [37] [38]

Electoral history

Vice Presidential elections

ElectionsAllianceResultVote percentageOpposition
CandidateAllianceVote percentage
2025 NDA Won60.1% B. Sudarshan Reddy INDIA 39.9%

Lok Sabha elections

ElectionsLok SabhaConstituencyPolitical partyResultVote percentageOpposition
CandidatePolitical partyVote percentage
1998 12th Coimbatore BJP Lotus flower symbol.svg Won55.85%K. R. Subbian DMK Indian election symbol rising sun.svg 37.86%
1999 13th 49.21% R. Nallakannu CPI CPI symbol.svg 43.02%
2004 14th Lost38.74% K. Subbarayan 57.46%
2014 16th 33.12% P. Nagarajan AIADMK Indian election symbol two leaves.svg 36.69%
2019 17th 31.34% P. R. Natarajan CPI(M) CPI(M) election symbol - Hammer Sickle and Star.svg 45.66%

Positions held

Parliament of India

Rajya Sabha
ElectionsPositionTerm in office
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
2025 Chairman 12 September 2025Incumbent5 days
Lok Sabha
ElectionsPositionElected constituencyTerm in office
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
1998 Member of Parliament Coimbatore 23 March 199826 April 19991 year, 34 days
1999 Member of Parliament Coimbatore 20 October 19996 February 20044 years, 109 days

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha". Press Information Bureau . 12 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  2. ↑ "Who is CP Radhakrishnan? Meet NDA candidate for Vice-Presidential election - here's all you need to know". The Times of India . 17 August 2025. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "NDA Vice President: CP Radhakrishnan's Journey from RSS to Raj Bhavan". Deccan Herald . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "10 Facts About CP Radhakrishnan, BJP's Pick for Vice President". NDTV . Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 "From Tamil Nadu BJP Leader To Governor Of Two States: Know Political Journey Of CP Radhakrishnan". ABP News . 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Ranjan, Mukesh (19 February 2023). "C P Radhakrishnan takes oath as 11th Governor of Jharkhand". The Indian Express . Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  7. ↑ "Vajpayee invites BJP leaders to Delhi for talks". The Hindu . Chennai. 14 September 2003. Archived from the original on 27 October 2003. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  8. ↑ KV, Prasad (5 May 2006). "BJP will have to start from scratch". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Verdict not a surprise, says Radhakrishnan". The Hindu . 25 October 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "It's the party that sells, not candidates!". September 1999. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "It's for DMK to explain,says C.P. Radhakrishnan". The Hindu . 13 May 2003. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Statement by Hon'ble Mr. C. P. Radhakrishnan, Member of Parliament and Member of the Indian Delegation at the 58th Session of the UN General Assembly on October 20, 2003" (PDF). Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "TN BJP invites AIADMK to return to NDA". Deccan Herald . 3 January 2004. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Key Contests : CP Radhakrishnan vs K Subbarayan". Business Standard . 1 May 2004. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Raj Bhavan". Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2004.
  16. ↑ "Two-month awareness yatra by TN BJP chief". The Times of India . 24 June 2003. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  17. ↑ "Normality returns to Mettupalayam". The Hindu . 9 November 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  18. ↑ Madhavan, Karthik (22 March 2019). "Familiar faces to fight it out in Coimbatore". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  19. ↑ "Coirboard". Coir board. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  20. ↑ "Senior BJP leader CP Radhakrishnan appointed Jharkhand Guv". Northeast Herald. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "C.P. Radhakrishnan takes oath as Jharkhand Governor". The Hindu . 18 February 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan - Hon'ble Governor of Jharkhand". Governor of Jharkhand . Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  23. ↑ "C.P. Radhakrishnan assumes charge of Lt. Governor of Puducherry". All India Radio . 22 March 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  24. ↑ "Jharkhand Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan given additional responsibilities of Telangana, Puducherry". The Hindu . 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  25. ↑ "Jharkhand Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan takes charge as Telangana governor". All India Radio . 20 March 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  26. ↑ "CP Radhakrishnan takes oath as Maharashtra governor". The Times of India . 31 July 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  27. ↑ "Santosh Kumar Gangwar sworn in as Jharkhand Governor". Deccan Herald . 31 July 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  28. ↑ "Jishnu Dev Varma is new Governor of Telangana; Radhakrishnan moves to Maharashtra". Telangana Today . 28 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  29. ↑ "Press Communique 19". Office of the President of India . 27 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  30. ↑ "Press Communique 20". Office of the President of India . 27 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  31. ↑ "NDA names Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan as vice-presidential candidate". Moneycontrol. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  32. ↑ "Vice presidential poll: Nitish Kumar's JD(U) backs NDA's candidate; extends wishes to CP Radhakrishnan". The Times of India. 18 August 2025. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  33. ↑ Sam Daniel Stalin, J (18 August 2025). ""Rise Above Party Lines": BJP, AIADMK To Opposition Over Vice President Pick". NDTV.
  34. ↑ "VP Election 2025: I.N.D.I.A. Nominates Ex-SC Judge B Sudarshan Reddy". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  35. ↑ Nair, Sobhana K. "C.P. Radhakrishnan is the 17th Vice-President of India". The Hindu. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  36. ↑ "C P Radhakrishnan likely to take oath as Vice President on September 12". The Economic Times. 10 September 2025. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  37. ↑ "Who is CP Radhakrishnan? NDA's candidate for Vice President elections". Wion. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  38. ↑ "Two-time MP, Governor, table tennis champion: 5 points on CP Radhakrishnan, NDA's VP pick". The Hindustan Times . 17 August 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
Political offices
Preceded by Vice President of India
2025–present		Incumbent
Preceded by Governor of Maharashtra
2024–2025		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
2024		Succeeded by
Governor of Telangana
2024		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Jharkhand
2023–2024		Succeeded by
Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Coimbatore
1998–2004		Succeeded by
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