Newly elected vice president of India, C.P. Radhakrishnan, will assume office on Friday. The oath ceremony of the vice president-elect will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 12, sources aware of the developments said.
President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath to Radhakrishnan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and top leaders of the National Democratic Alliance are expected to attend the event.
Currently serving as the governor of Maharashtra, Radhakrishnan, won the vice president election on Tuesday, gaining 452 votes. Radhakrishnan defeated the joint candidate of the Opposition, former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, by a margin of 152 votes. In the closely contested election, Radhakrishnan gained about 14 votes more than the National Democratic Alliance's tally of 327 votes.
Though 315 votes were polled in favour of the former Supreme Court judge, 15 votes were counted as invalid.
In his first reaction after the election win, Radhakrishnan said, "The other side camp (Opposition alliance) said that this (election) is an ideological fight, but from the voting pattern, we understand that the nationalistic ideology has emerged victorious."
"It is a victory for every Indian; we all have to work together. If we have to develop Viksit Bharat by 2047, which means we should not do politics in everything, now we will have to concentrate on development," he added.
Hailing from Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan is a key leader of the rightwing in the southern state. Radhakrishnan has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu twice. He served as the president of Tamil Nadu BJP from 2004 to 2007.
