C P Radhakrishnan sworn in as 15th Vice President of India

New Delhi, Sep 12: C.P. Radhakrishnan took oath Friday as the fifteenth Vice President of India and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He was administered the oath by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at a swearing-in ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Radhakrishnan was formerly the Governor of Maharashtra.
After the swearing-in, C.P. Radhakrishnan visited Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi Ji. He also paid tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Sadaiv Atal, to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya at his memorial at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg and to former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh at Kisan Ghat.
Born on 4th May 1957 in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, Chandrapuram Ponnusami Radhakrishnan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Starting as an RSS Swayamsevak, he became a State Executive Committee Member of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974. Before entering public life, Radhakrishnan had a long and successful career as a garment exporter.
In 1996, C.P. Radhakrishnan was appointed Secretary of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Coimbatore in 1998 and re-elected in 1999. During his tenure as an MP, he served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Textiles. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and the Consultative Committee on Finance. Additionally, he was a member of the Parliamentary Special Committee investigating the Stock Exchange Scam.
In 2004, Radhakrishnan addressed the UN General Assembly as part of the Parliamentary Delegation. He was also a member of the first Parliamentary Delegation to Taiwan.
Between 2004 and 2007, Radhakrishnan served as the State President of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. In this role, he undertook a 19,000 km ‘Ratha Yatra’ that lasted 93 days. The Yatra was organised to highlight his demands for linking all Indian rivers, eradicating terrorism, implementing a uniform civil code, removing untouchability, and combating the menace of narcotic drugs. He also led two additional Padayatras for different causes.
In 2016, Radhakrishnan was appointed Chairman of the Coir Board, Kochi, a position he held for four years. Under his leadership, coir exports from India reached an all-time high of Rs. 2,532 crores. From 2020 to 2022, he was the All India In-Charge of the BJP for Kerala.
On 18th February 2023, Shri Radhakrishnan was appointed Governor of Jharkhand. Within his first four months, he travelled to all 24 districts of the state, interacting with citizens and district officials. He also held additional charge as Governor of Telangana and as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.
Since taking charge as Governor of Maharashtra, Radhakrishnan has travelled extensively across the state, interacting with people’s representatives, officials, business leaders, and various sections of society.