Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief CP Radhakrishnan is NDA’s choice for Vice-President

C P Radharishnan is currently serving as the Governor of Maharashtra.CP Radharishnan is currently serving as the Governor of Maharashtra.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN Our SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday placed a familiar figure from Tamil Nadu into the national spotlight by naming Maharashtra Governor Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan as the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA’s) candidate for the September 9 Vice-Presidential polls.

Radhakrishnan (68) is all set to be India’s next vice-president. The BJP parliamentary board on Sunday approved the name of the two-term former Lok Sabha MP from Coimbatore for the constitutional post, which is twinned with that of chairman of Rajya Sabha.

Rival INDIA bloc has declared its intent to field an “ideological” candidate to make a statement. However, given NDA’s superior strength, Radhakrishnan’s election is almost certain. The NDA has 427 MPs (Lok Sabha: 293; Rajya Sabha: 134) against opposition’s 354 (LS: 249; RS: 105), which is comfortably above the required number: 392.

Sources indicated that the selection of Radhakrishnan — he belongs to the OBC (Other Backward Class) Gounder (Kongu Vellalar) community, a dominant caste in west Tamil Nadu — may have been influenced by many considerations.