NDA's CP Radhakrishnan wins vice presidential election gaining 452 votes

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee C.P. Radhakrishnan was elected 17th vice president of India in a closely contested election on Tuesday.  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Tamil Nadu won the election gaining 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Radhakrishnan on the win. Modi was the first to cast vote during the election held in Parliament House premises on Tuesday. 

Radhakrishnan is currently serving as the governor of Maharashtra. Hailing from Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan is a key leader of the rightwing in the southern state.

Starting his political innings as a swayamsevak of RSS, he became a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974. The BJP appointed Radhakrishnan as state secretary of the party in 1996. He has been elected twice to the Lok Sabha - in 1998 and 1999. Radhakrishnan served as the president of  Tamil Nadu BJP from 2004 to 2007. 

Radhakrishnan was appointed as the governor of Jharkhand in February 2023. He has been serving as Maharashtra's governor since July 2024.

Radhakrishnan, also a sports enthusiast, and was college champion in table tennis. 

The Opposition INDIA bloc fielded former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy in the election necessitated by the resignation of former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar. 

The electoral college for vice president election comprises members from the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and the current strength of the electoral college is 781, as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha. The NDA enjoyed a clear edge in the election.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said all 315 MPs from Opposition voted in the election. "The Opposition has stood united. ALL of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting. This is an unprecedented 100% turnout," Ramesh tweeted.