The NDA, led by the BJP, announced on Sunday that CP Radhakrishnan will be their candidate for the Vice Presidential election. This choice was made by the BJP’s main decision-making group, the Parliamentary Board, which is run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the decision was made on August 17, 2025. The 11-member BJP Parliamentary Board gathered at the party’s main office in Delhi to discuss potential candidates for the election and ultimately chose CP Radhakrishnan. After a meeting of the NDA parliamentary party, BJP President JP Nadda shared this news. He mentioned that Mr. Radhakrishnan has 40 years of political experience and has held various important roles. He also told reporters that the BJP plans to talk to leaders from the Opposition to make sure the election goes smoothly. He expressed hope that the election for Vice President would happen through agreement among the parties.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan became the Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024. Before that, he was the Governor of Jharkhand for about a year and a half from 2023 to 2024, and he had temporary responsibility for Telangana as well. He was also the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Radhakrishnan was elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore and has previously been the head of the BJP in Tamil Nadu.
The elections to choose the new Vice President will occur on September 9, and the deadline for submitting nominations is August 21. This vacancy happened because the current Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar, suddenly stepped down on July 21, mentioning health issues. The majority required for the election is 394 out of a total of 786 members in both houses. The NDA has a combined total of 422 members in these two houses, with 293 in the Lok Sabha and 129 in the Rajya Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the choice of the National Democratic Alliance to put forward Thiru CP Radhakrishnan as their candidate for Vice President of India.
In a post on X, he said, “In his long public career, Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji has shown great dedication, humility, and intelligence. In all the roles he has taken on, he has always aimed to serve the community and uplift those who are weaker. He has done significant work at the local level in Tamil Nadu. I am pleased the NDA team has chosen him as our Vice Presidential candidate. ” PM Modi added in his post, “Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji has a wealth of experience as a Member of Parliament and as Governor of different states. His contributions in Parliament were always very insightful. While serving as Governor, he worked to solve problems that regular people face. These experiences have given him a deep understanding of laws and constitutional issues. I believe he will be a motivating Vice President. ”
