Bags 452 votes against Oppn candidate Reddy’s 300 tally
New Delhi: Maharashtra Governor and NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan was elected the 15th Vice-President of India on Tuesday, bagging 452 votes against Opposition nominee and former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy’s 300 votes, amid indications of cross-voting in his favour.
Announcing the result of the vice-presidential election, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer PC Mody said 767 MPs out of 781 cast their votes with a total turnout of 98.2 per cent. He said 752 ballots were valid and 15 were invalid, bringing down the required majority of first preference votes to 377.
“I declare CP Radhakrishnan elected to the post of Vice-President of India, and the results will be communicated to the Election Commission,” Mody said.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Radhakrishnan, saying his decades of rich experience in public life will contribute significantly to the nation’s progress, strengthen constitutional values and enhance parliamentary discourse.
The victory of Radhakrishnan (67), a seasoned politician from Tamil Nadu having an RSS background and decades-long stint first in the Jana Sangh and then the BJP, was a foregone conclusion due to the ruling alliance’s numerical edge.
However, the extent of his victory margin is a setback to the Opposition, which had claimed all its 315 MPs remained united in the election and voted for Reddy, their joint candidate.
Radhakrishnan’s margin was bigger than expected, with BJP leaders claiming that he drew support even from the rival camp.
The BJP-led NDA had on paper 427 MPs in its alliance, with the YSR Congress also extending the support of its 11 MPs to its candidate. Some MPs representing smaller parties also backed Radhakrishnan.
BJP leaders were quick to claim after the results were announced that at least 15 Opposition MPs voted in favour of Radhakrishnan. There were hints from the ruling alliance that some Opposition MPs deliberately cast invalid votes.
BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal later claimed that “nearly 40 Opposition MPs” listened to the voice of their conscience and voted in “some manner” in support of the NDA candidate, showing wider acceptance for him. His assertion of support from 40 Opposition MPs appeared to include several invalid votes. Some Opposition leaders had appealed to MPs’ conscience in the polls to support Reddy, and the senior BJP leader’s comments were seen as a retort to them.
“Congratulations to Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji on winning the 2025 vice-presidential election. His life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised.
“I am confident that he will be an outstanding V-P, who will strengthen our constitutional values and enhance parliamentary discourse,” Modi said in a post on X.
Radhakrishnan, who will be sworn in soon, thanked President Murmu and Prime Minister Modi for their best wishes on his election to the second-highest constitutional post of the country.
Losing candidate Sudershan Reddy said he humbly accepts the result and wished Radhakrishnan the very best in his new role.
The Congress also congratulated the NDA nominee on his win, and said its ideological battle against the ruling alliance will continue “undiminished”.
Declaring the poll result, the Rajya Sabha Secretary General said one postal ballot was received but was treated as “returned and cancelled” as the elector declined to cast his vote. Three MPs – Amritpal Singh, PV Midhun Reddy and Sheikh Abdul Rashid – were eligible for the postal ballot, of which two – Reddy and Rashid – voted in person.
Seen as a soft-spoken and non-confrontational leader, the 67-year-old Radhakrishnan succeeds Jagdeep Dhankhar, who suddenly resigned as vice-president on July 21 almost two years before his term was to end.
He is the third leader from Tamil Nadu to occupy the coveted post.
