Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated CP Radhakrishnan on being elected India’s 15th Vice President, praising his lifelong service to society. Radhakrishnan, a BJP stalwart from Tamil Nadu, defeated Justice B Sudershan Reddy by 152 votes.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, September 9 congratulated NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan on his election as India’s 15th Vice President, expressing confidence that his long record of public service would help strengthen constitutional values and enrich parliamentary debate. “His [CP Radhakrishnan] life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised. I am confident that he will be an outstanding VP, who will strengthen our Constitutional values and enhance Parliamentary discourse,” he wrote in a social media post. Radhakrishnan, who was the Maharashtra governor entering the elections, defeated B Sudershan Reddy by 152 votes in the Vice Presidential elections. A total of 98.20 per cent voter turnout was found in the Vice Presidential elections, wherein 767 MPs cast their vote out of 788.
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Sudershan Reddy Accepts Defeat
Opposition’s Vice-Presidential candidate Justice B Sudershan Reddy gracefully accepted his defeat in the election, expressing faith in India’s democratic traditions while vowing to continue the “ideological battle” with renewed determination. Congratulating Vice President-elect CP Radhakrishnan, Reddy said the larger cause championed by the Opposition “remains undiminished.” He added, “Today, the MPs have rendered their verdict in the election for the office of the Vice President of India. I humbly accept this outcome with an abiding faith in the democratic processes of our great Republic.”
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CP Radhakrishnan, the BJP stalwart from Tamil Nadu, has achieved a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and became the state committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP’s precursor, in 1974. Before the Jan Sangh, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In the year 1996, Radhakrishnan was appointed as the BJP Tamil Nadu secretary, following which he was elected as a Lok Sabha member from Coimbatore in 1998 and re-elected again in 1999.
During his tenure as MP, he served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee and was also 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. From 2004 to 2007, Radhakrishnan served as the Tamil Nadu state president and also led a 19000 km ‘Rath Yatra’ which lasted for 93 days.