C.P. Radhakrishnan Sworn in as India’s 15th Vice President

New Delhi: Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India on Friday in a solemn ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office in the presence of senior government officials, constitutional functionaries, and political leaders.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Vice-Presidents Jagdeep Dhankhar and M. Venkaiah Naidu, former President Ram Nath Kovind, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, among others.

Radhakrishnan, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and a veteran BJP leader from Tamil Nadu with longstanding ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was elected on Tuesday, securing 452 votes. His opponent, former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, fielded by the Opposition, received 300 votes.

Out of 781 Members of Parliament eligible to vote, 767 cast their ballots, marking a turnout of 98.2 percent. Of these, 752 votes were declared valid while 15 were invalid, setting the majority mark at 377. Although the NDA’s official tally stood at 427 MPs, Radhakrishnan’s support extended beyond alliance ranks, with 11 MPs from the YSRCP and an additional 14 votes believed to have come through cross-voting from the Opposition camp.

Following the announcement of results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Radhakrishnan, expressing confidence that the new Vice President would “strengthen India’s constitutional values and enrich parliamentary discourse.”

Notably, 13 MPs abstained from voting, including seven from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), four from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), one from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and one Independent.