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 in the presence of senior government officials and dignitaries.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by senior leaders including Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh. Former vice-presidents Jagdeep Dhankhar, Venkaiah Naidu and Hamid Ansari were also present at the ceremony.
After the ceremony, Radhakrishnan paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat.
Radhakrishnan, the NDA nominee, was elected as the Vice President on September 9, after he secured 452 votes in comparison to Opposition candidate and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, who received 300 votes.
Announcing the result, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer PC Mody said that 767 out of 781 MPs cast their votes, recording a turnout of 98.2 per cent. Of these, 752 ballots were valid and 15 were invalid, lowering the required majority of first preference votes to 377.
While the NDA had the backing of 427 MPs on paper, 11 lawmakers from the YSRCP also supported Radhakrishnan. Interestingly, the NDA candidate received 14 votes more than expected, sparking speculation of cross-voting from the Opposition camp.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated CP Radhakrishnan and expressed confidence that the newly elected Vice President would strengthen India’s constitutional values and contribute positively to parliamentary discourse.
Notably, on July 21, Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped down as Vice President, a little more than two years ahead of the end of his tenure. His term was to end on August 10, 2027.
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Officially, he cited medical reasons for his exit but sources earlier hinted at a deeper unease, possibly even a breakdown of trust between him and the Centre that he once strongly defended.
