New Delhi: Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan on Friday took oath as the 15th Vice President of India at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Radhakrishnan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah,Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda were among those who attended Radhakrishnan's swearing in ceremony.
Dressed in a red kurta, Radhakrishnan took oath in English. On Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA candidate Radhakrishnan won the vice presidential election, defeating the Opposition's nominee B Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
The poll was necessitated after the then incumbent Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar, suddenly resigned on July 21 over health issues. Dhankhar's resignation came as a surprise to everybody as he quit the post on the first day of the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament.
Dhankhar also attended the ceremony. Notably, it was his first public appearance since his resignation as VP. Former vice presidents Hamid Ansari and Venkaiah Naidu were also present at the ceremony.
On Thursday, Radhakrishnan demitted office of Governor of Maharashtra after his election as the Vice President. President Murmu appointed Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat to discharge the functions of the Governor of Maharashtra, in addition to his own duties.
Who is CP Radhakrishnan?
CP Radhakrishnan, born October 20, 1957, in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, is a veteran BJP leader with over four decades of political experience. Currently serving as Maharashtra's 24th Governor since July last year, he previously governed Jharkhand (February 2023-July 2024) and briefly held additional charge of Telangana and Puducherry.
Beginning his political journey in the 1970s through the RSS, Radhakrishnan served as BJP Tamil Nadu State President (2004-2007) and was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore, a rare achievement for Tamil Nadu BJP leaders. Belonging to the Gounder community, he represents important OBC leadership within the party.
