President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to the 67-year-old Radhakrishnan at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning
Pic/PTI
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was on Friday sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to the 67-year-old Radhakrishnan at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning.
Dressed in a red kurta, Radhakrishnan took the oath in English in the name of God.
Radhakrishanan won the vice presidential election on Tuesday, defeating the joint opposition nominee B Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
The election was necessitated due to the sudden resignation of the then incumbent, Jagdeep Dhankhar, on July 21 over health issues.
Dhankhar also attended the ceremony, his first public appearance since his resignation as VP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda were among those who attended the programme.
Former vice presidents Hamid Ansari and Venkaiah Naidu were also present at the ceremony.
Ahead of the ceremony, several political leaders arrived in Delhi to attend the event.
Those present in the capital include Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan the NDA nominee, was elected as the 15th Vice President of India on Tuesday, securing 452 votes against Opposition candidate and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, who received 300 votes. Previously, he served as the Governor of Maharashtra. He also served as the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024. He also held additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March and July 2024.A veteran BJP leader, Radhakrishnan, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore twice and served as the Tamil Nadu BJP State President.
Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer PC Mody had 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.
Furthermore, 13 MPs abstained from voting in the election. These include seven MPs from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), four from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), one MP from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and one Independent MP.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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