Who is CP Radhakrishnan, NDA’s Vice-Presidential Candidate?
New Delhi: Maharashtra Governor Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, a veteran BJP leader from Tamil Nadu with over four decades in politics, has been named as the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate for the upcoming Vice-Presidential election.
Born in Tiruppur on October 20, 1957, Radhakrishnan began his political journey in the 1970s with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and served on the State Executive Committee of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974. He went on to become the BJP’s Tamil Nadu state president between 2004 and 2007 and was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore, one of the few BJP leaders from the state to achieve this.
The 67-year-old leader belongs to the Gounder community, a prominent OBC group in Tamil Nadu, and is regarded within the BJP as a key representative of backward class leadership. Beyond politics, he holds a degree in Business Administration and has been a sports enthusiast, excelling in table tennis, long-distance running, cricket and volleyball.
Radhakrishnan’s gubernatorial career began in February 2023 as Governor of Jharkhand, followed by a brief stint with additional charge of Telangana and Puducherry in 2024. He was sworn in as the 24th Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024.
The NDA’s decision to field him was taken at a BJP Parliamentary Board meeting on August 17 in New Delhi, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders. BJP president JP Nadda announced the nomination, calling it a unanimous choice.
Prime Minister Modi, welcoming the move, said Radhakrishnan had “always focused on empowering the marginalised and distinguished himself with dedication, humility and intellect.”
The Vice-Presidential election will be held on September 9, with nominations closing on August 21 and withdrawals allowed until August 25. The election follows the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21, citing health reasons.
Attention now turns to whether the opposition will contest the election or allow Radhakrishnan to be elected unopposed.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
