C. P. Radhakrishnan

Chandrapuram Ponnusami Radhakrishnan (born 4 May 1957) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 15th Vice President of India since 12 September 2025. He previously served as the Governor of various states, and as a member of parliament in Lok Sabha.

Born in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu in 1957, Radhakrishnan obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from V. O. Chidambaram College in Thoothukudi. He has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Jana Sangh since his youth. In 1974, he became part of the Jan Sangh's state executive committee in Tamil Nadu, and later became part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), when it was founded in 1980. Representing the BJP, Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Coimbatore in the 1998 and 1999 general elections. Since then, he had unsuccessfully contested three general elections from the same constituency in 2004, 2014, and 2019. He served as the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP from 2003 to 2006. Radhakrishnan was appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand in February 2023 and served in the position till July 2024. He also held additional charges as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry in 2024. He served as the Governor of Maharashtra from July 2024 to September 2025. Following the resignation of the vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar in August 2025, Radhakrishnan was named as the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance for the 2025 Indian vice presidential election. In the elections held on 9 September 2025, he defeated B. Sudarshan Reddy and was sworn in as the vice president on 12 September 2025.

Early life

Radhakrishnan was born on 4 May 1957 to C. K. Ponnusamy and K. Janaki in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu. He belongs to the Gounder community. He was reportedly named after the then-incumbent first Vice-President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and co-incidentally he was elected for a second term just a week after his birth, leading to a belief of some shared destiny. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from V. O. Chidambaram College in Thoothukudi. Since the age of 16, he has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Political career

In 1974, Radhakrishnan was elected to the Jan Sangh's state executive committee. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after it was founded in 1980, and became an aide to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Member of parliament (1998-2004)

In the 1998 elections, Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing Coimbatore. The election was held in the aftermath of the 1998 Coimbatore bombings. He defeated the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate by a margin of 144,676 votes. He was one of three BJP candidates to win in Tamil Nadu as a part of the party's alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Representing the BJP, he won the 1999 elections from the same constitutency as a part of the DMK-led alliance. He was part of a parliamentary delegation to the United Nations, and addressed the 58th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 20 October 2003. He was a member of the parliamentary committee for public sector undertakings from 1998 to 2004 and a member of the parliamentary consultative committee for finance.

Party chief and later years (2005-2022)

Ahead of the 2004 general elections, he was among the BJP's state leaders who worked on forming an alliance with the AIADMK in 2004 after the DMK exited from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). His tenure in the Parliament of India ended following his defeat in the 2004 general election to K. Subbarayan of the Communist Party of India. He was appointed as the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP in 2004 and served in the position till 2006. As the president, he took a rath yatra for 93 days, advocating the linkage of Indian rivers, eradicating untouchability, and campaigning against terrorism in India. He covered all the parliamentary constituencies of Tamil Nadu during his journey, which faced criticism from the ruling DMK. He was also involved in the organising of the Kerala state unit of the BJP during the late 2000s. In 2012, he faced court arrest in Mettupalayam for protesting inaction against culprits who had assaulted an RSS activist.

Radhakrishnan was announced as the BJP candidate for Coimbatore in the 2014 general elections. He secured second place after polling 389,701 votes, the highest among the BJP candidates in Tamil Nadu. He contested as the party's candidate from the same constituency in the 2019 general election and lost to P. R. Natarajan of the CPIM. He was the chairman of the Coir Board of India, which comes under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, from 2016 to 2020. He also served as a member of the BJP's national executive.

Governorship (2023–2025)

On 12 February 2023, president Droupadi Murmu appointed Radhakrishnan as the governor of Jharkhand, succeeding Ramesh Bais, and he took office on 18 February 2023. Following the resignation of Tamilisai Soundararajan, he held additional responsibilities as the governor of Telangana and as lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 19 March 2024. On 27 July 2024, he was appointed as governor of Maharashtra. Jishnu Dev Varma, Santosh Gangwar, and Kuniyil Kailashnathan , took over his positions in Telangana, Jharkhand, and Puducherry, respectively. Radhakrishnan resigned as governor of Maharashtra following his election as the Vice President of India.

Vice President of India (2025–present)

On 17 August 2025, following the resignation of the 15th Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, BJP national president J. P. Nadda announced Radhakrishnan's candidacy in the 2025 vice presidential election. He was endorsed by all NDA member parties, including the AIADMK, JD(U), NCP, TDP, SS, and non-member parties, such as the YSRCP. He ran against Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate B. Sudarshan Reddy. The polling and results for elections were announced on 9 September 2025 and he emerged victorious defeating Reddy by 116 votes. He polled 452 electoral votes. He took oath as the 15th Vice President on 12 September 2025.

Electoral history

Vice Presidential elections

Lok Sabha elections

Positions held

Parliament of India

Rajya Sabha

Lok Sabha

See also

• List of governors of Jharkhand
• List of governors of Maharashtra
• List of governors of Telangana
• List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry
• Vice President of India
• List of vice presidents of India
• Governors of India
• List of Governors of India
• 2025 Indian vice presidential election

External links

• Media related to C. P. Radhakrishnan at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to C. P. Radhakrishnan at Wikiquote
• (12th Lok Sabha) (archived)
• (13th Lok Sabha) (archived)
• on Governor of Telangana website. ().