In a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, C. P. Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India today. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to the 67-year-old leader. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by dignitaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former President Ram Nath Kovind, and the former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, whose sudden resignation in July necessitated the election.
The event marked the culmination of a successful electoral campaign for Radhakrishnan, who was the nominee of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He secured a decisive victory on Tuesday, winning 452 votes against the joint opposition candidate, former Supreme Court Judge B. Sudershan Reddy, who received 300 votes.
Following the election results, Prime Minister Modi had congratulated Radhakrishnan, stating his confidence that the new Vice President would “strengthen our Constitutional values and enhance Parliamentary discourse.”
A veteran politician with a long and varied career, Radhakrishnan previously served as the Governor of Maharashtra from July 2024 and as the Governor of Jharkhand before that. He is a prominent figure within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has a deep association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since his youth. He was a two-time Member of Parliament from the Coimbatore constituency in 1998 and 1999. His political journey also includes a tenure as the state president of the BJP in Tamil Nadu.
By assuming the office of Vice President, Radhakrishnan will also take on the role of the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
