CP Radhakrishnan, NDA’s Vice President pick, will succeed Jagdeep Dhankhar after securing a decisive victory in Tuesday’s election, winning 452 first-preference votes against Opposition candidate and retired Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, who garnered 300 votes.
The 68-year-old’s political journey began in his teenage years. Born in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at 16 and steadily climbed the BJP’s ranks.
Political Rise
Radhakrishnan first rose to prominence in the late 1990s. He won the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat in 1998 and 1999 with record margins for the state, establishing his credibility in western Tamil Nadu — a region historically challenging for the BJP. He later served as Tamil Nadu BJP president from 2004 to 2007 and became a member of the party’s National Executive. In February 2023, he was appointed Jharkhand’s governor and moved to Maharashtra in February 2024.
Colleagues describe him as ideologically rooted in the Sangh yet pragmatic in governance. His straightforward approach and relatively clean image distinguish him in a political landscape often fraught with rivalries and corruption scandals.
Radhakrishnan has not shied away from controversy. In 2023, when Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin called for the “annihilation” of Sanatan Dharma, Radhakrishnan—then Jharkhand Governor—responded sharply, warning that those seeking to destroy Hindu traditions “will perish by their own act,” dismissing Udhayanidhi as “a child” overstepping his depth. The exchange drew attention from both supporters and critics.
His governorship coincided with BJP state president K Annamalai’s efforts to consolidate the party’s influence in Coimbatore and the wider Kongu belt, signalling the party’s continued faith in Radhakrishnan’s political acumen even as younger leaders were emerging in the region.
