BJP president J P Nadda made the announcement following a meeting of the party's parliamentary board, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and consultation with the party's allies.

Nadda appealed for unanimous election of Radhakrishnan (67), an OBC leader and two-time former member of Lok Sabha from Coimbatore, to the constitutional position, saying BJP leaders had spoken to the opposition parties over the last week and will reach out to them again.

Opposition leaders had told the BJP interlocutors that they can make up their mind only after being told of the ruling alliance's nominee, Nadda said, adding that his party will speak to them to reach a consensus over Radhakrishnan, whom he lauded as a "statesman".

In Radhakrishnan, the BJP has trusted a leader with a proven organsiational and ideological commitment, a far cry from its choice of his predecessor, Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Due to the comfortable majority of the BJP and its allies in the electoral college, comprising Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, Radhakrishnan's election is all but certain, and the party hopes that his elevation will help it make fresh inroads in Tamil Nadu, where elections are due next year.

Radhakrishnan belongs to the influential Gounder caste, an OBC community, in Tamil Nadu.