Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan will be the NDA’s candidate for the upcoming vice-presidential election, BJP national president J P Nadda announced on Sunday following a meeting of the party’s Parliamentary Board in New Delhi. The decision came just days before the deadline for filing nominations closes, ending weeks of speculation over who would succeed Jagdeep Dhankhar after his surprise resignation last month.
The 11-member Parliamentary Board – the BJP’s highest decision-making body chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – approved Radhakrishnan’s candidature, with the choice expected to be formally communicated to alliance partners including Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Nadda, while announcing his name, said: “CP Radhakrishnan considered a statesman, commands respect in all sections of society in Tamil Nadu.”
“We want next vice president to be elected unanimously, we have reached out to opposition leaders,” Nadda added, news agency PTI reported.
The vice-presidential polls were necessitated after Dhankhar, in a surprise move on July 21, tendered his resignation citing health reasons during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. His early departure left the ruling alliance scrambling to identify a successor who could command both the stature and acceptability required for the post.
Over the past fortnight, senior BJP leaders considered several names for the role, including sitting Governors, Lieutenant Governors and outgoing Rajya Sabha MPs. “During the Parliamentary Board meeting, senior leaders typically discuss the merits of various candidates. It concluded with the Prime Minister giving his final nod,” a source said, adding that this election was also about demonstrating the NDA’s cohesion.
Last week, NDA partners had authorised Modi and Nadda to decide on the alliance’s nominee.
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Party insiders said Nadda will now apprise NDA partners of the decision before the nomination is filed. “During the filing of the nomination and on polling day, the NDA will make it a point to publicly project a united and consolidated front,” a senior BJP leader said.
Radhakrishnan, a veteran BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, has held key organisational roles and is seen as a consensus choice across alliance partners.
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