New Delhi: The BJP Parliamentary Board on Sunday declared CP Radhakrishnan, the current Governor of Maharashtra, as the National Democratic Alliance’s candidate for the Vice President’s post. Making the announcement, BJP President JP Nadda said, “We wanted to decide the Vice Presidential nominee unanimously. CP Radhakrishnan will be the candidate.”
Nadda explained that the ruling alliance had approached the Opposition before the announcement, but Opposition leaders wanted to know the candidate’s name beforehand. “We will again speak to them so that they also extend their support and the election can be unanimous,” he added.
The process for filing nominations will be worked out in consultation with NDA allies. The Vice Presidential election is scheduled for September 9, with August 22 set as the last day for filing nominations. Earlier in the day, the BJP’s parliamentary board held a meeting to finalise the nominee, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, JP Nadda, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The position became vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as Vice President last month on the first day of the monsoon session, citing health issues in his letter to the President.
Who is CP Radhakrishnan?
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was born on October 20, 1957, in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu. He pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. A long-time RSS member, he joined the State Executive Committee of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974. Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024. Before that, he served as the Governor of Jharkhand for nearly one and a half years.