C P Radhakrishnan Elected India’s 15th Vice President, Defeats Opposition’s Reddy

Maharashtra Governor and NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan was on Tuesday elected the 15th Vice President of India, securing a decisive victory over joint Opposition candidate and former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy.

Radhakrishnan bagged 452 votes, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 377, while Reddy polled 300 votes. The margin of victory—152 votes—was larger than expected, with reports of cross-voting in favour of the NDA nominee.

Announcing the result, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer P C Mody said that 767 MPs out of 781 cast their votes, recording a high turnout of 98.2 per cent. Of these, 752 ballots were valid while 15 were declared invalid.

“I declare C P Radhakrishnan elected to the post of Vice President of India, and the results will be communicated to the Election Commission,” Mody said after counting.

Radhakrishnan will succeed Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Vice President and will also serve as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.