BJP-led NDA candidate and Maharashtra Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan, a native of Tamil Nadu, was elected as the 15th Vice-President of India yesterday. He won comfortably by a margin of 152 votes.
Radhakrishnan secured 452 first preference votes. His rival, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy of the Congress-led INDIA bloc, got 152 votes. Out of the total 982 votes polled, 15 were invalid.
The results were announced after a day of polling and counting. Radhakrishnan will now succeed Jagadeep Dhankhar, who resigned from the post citing health reasons.
This makes Radhakrishnan the third Tamilian to hold the Vice-Presidentâs post after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and R. Venkataraman. Both of them later became Presidents of India. Later, eminent scientist Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, also from Tamil Nadu, served as President.
After many years, someone from Tamil Nadu has been chosen as Vice-President. BJP leaders called it a great honour for the state and its people.
Radhakrishnan, a senior BJP leader and RSS Pracharak, earlier served as Governor of Jharkhand before becoming Governor of Maharashtra. With his new role, he will step down from the Governorâs post and take charge as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
BJP leaders said he was one of the most respected figures from South India and often called the âModi of Tamil Nadu.â He was also a member of the partyâs National Executive.
Congratulations poured in from across the political spectrum, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP National President J. P. Nadda.