Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan will be the 15th Vice President of India

● On September 9, 2025 the election for the post of 15th Vice President was held and Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan the NDA Alliance Candidate emerged victorious against former Supreme Court Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy, the nominee of opposition INDIA bloc.

● Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan will be the 15th Vice President of India. He defeated Sh. B. Sudarshan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes. He was issued the winning certificate by the Returning Officer Sh. P.C. Mody (Secretary General of Rajaya Sabha).

● The former Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned midway through his tenure citing health reasons, which made it necessary to conduct the Vice Presidential election at the earliest by the Election Commission of India.

Background of Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan

● Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, born in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, belongs to the Kongu Vellalar Gounder community.

● He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from V. O. Chidambaram College, Thoothukudi.

● He started his political career early by joining the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and RSS at the age of 17 and was elected to the Jan Sangh’s state executive committee in 1974. He served as a two term Member of Parliament representing Coimbatore and was the state president of BJP Tamil Nadu from 2004 to 2007.

● In February 2023, he was appointed Governor of Jharkhand and later became the Governor of Maharashtra in July 2024.

● He also briefly held the governorship of Telangana and the lieutenant governorship of Puducherry before handing over those responsibilities. In 2025, he was named the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for Vice President of India.

VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDIA

● Vice-President of India is a Constitutional post under Article-63 of the Indian Constitution. The Vice-President is the Second Senior-most Executive of India.

● Dr S. Radhakrishnan was the first Vice-President of India

Tenure

● The Tenure of a Vice-President is 5 years, but the tenure is not fixed. This means he can be removed before the completion of his tenure.

● The power to remove the Vice-President lies with our Parliament. The Rajya Sabha is more powerful on this issue. Any motion to remove the Vice-President can be introduced in the Rajya Sabha only and the same must be passed by the Rajya Sabha by its special majority i,e, by 2/3 majority. Then the motion is placed before the Lok Sabha and after getting the assent of the Lok Sabha by its simple majority, the removal motion stands passed by the Parliament and the Vice-President stands removed from his post.

● This has never happened in the history of India. No removal motion has been introduced in Rajya Sabha till date to remove a Vice-President.

Appointment

The Vice President of India is appointed by an Electoral College consisting of all the Members of Parliament (Elected as well Nominated)

Qualification

Any citizen of India, above 35 years of age and eligible to be elected as a member of Rajya Sabha can contest the elections of Vice-President. He must not be holding any office of profit under the Government of India, Government of State or under any local or other authority under the control of any said Governments (may hold the post of President, Vice-President, Governor, Minister of Union or of any State Government).

Powers

Our Constitution does not prescribe duties and powers of the Vice-President. He has all duties and powers in the capacity of Chairperson of Rajya Sabha.

The Vice-President is the Ex-officio Chairperson of Rajya Sabha. Although he is not a member of the Rajya Sabha, still he is the Chairperson of Rajya Sabha and presides over the proceedings of the same.

Oath and Resignation

The oath of office to Vice-President is administered by the President. In case the Vice-President wants to resign, he can submit his resignation to the President.

Election of Vice-President

The post of Vice-President is an elected one. Elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India. Any dispute regarding the election of Vice-President is resolved by the Supreme Court alone.

System of Elections

Vice-President is elected by a system of proportional representation by single transferable vote.

Salary

The salary of Vice-President is Rs. 4 lakh per month. He is paid salary in the capacity of the Chairperson of Rajya Sabha (not in the capacity of the Vice-President). His salary is taxable.

Death / Resignation by the President

● In case of the death or resignation by the President, the Vice-President assumes his office as the Acting President for a maximum period of G months. It is mandatory that elections for a new President must be conducted by the Election Commission of India within G months to elect a new President. When Vice-President takes charge as Acting President, the post of Vice-President remains vacant and the Acting President does not chair the proceedings of Rajya Sabha.

● In 1969, after the death of President Dr. Zakir Hussain, Vice-President V.V. Giri was sworn in as the Acting President. He too resigned after one month. Thereafter, the Chief Justice of India Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah took over as the Acting President. Thereafter V.V. Giri became the President after winning the election of President.

● In 1977, after the death of President Farkruddin Ali Ahmed, Vice-President Sh. B.D. Jatti took charge as Acting President of India. Elections were conducted by ECI to elect a new President. Mr. Neelam Sanjeev Reddy was elected unopposed and he became our President and Sh. B.D. Jatti returned to the office of Vice-President.

Note:- In the U.S.A. in case of death or resignation of the President, Vice-President assumes the office of the President for the remaining period of the President. Elections are held to elect a new President only after 4 years on a regular basis. After the murder of President John F. Kennedy in 19G3, Vice-President Mr. Johnson became President for the rest of the tenure of Kennedy. Similarly in 1974 after the resignation of President Richard Nixon (due to the Watergate scandal), Vice-President Zerald Ford became the President for the rest of the tenure of Nixon.

Procedure of Election

The Vice-President is elected by an Electoral College consisting of elected as well as nominated members of the Parliament (in Lok Sabha 543 + in Rajya Sabha 245, total 788 members), only these 788 members of Parliament have the right to vote in the election of Vice-President. The vote value of each member is one. Every Electoral College member has to mark his preferences on the Ballot Paper using a special pen provided by the election commission .

Sample Image of a Ballot Paper

Firstly, all the invalid votes are separated and rejected. Then a Quota is determined by using this formula

Quota   =   𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑑 𝑉𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑+1 + 1

In the Vice-Presidential elections held on 9th Sept 2025, the total valid vote were 752, then a quota was calculated as under:—

Quota   =   𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑+1 + 1

  =   752
1+1 + 1 = 37G + 1 = 377

Then the first preference votes were counted. If any candidate receives the desired quota, he is declared as elected. If none of the candidates receives the desired quota then the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and second preference votes are counted. Then if any candidate secures the desired quota, by adding 1st and 2nd preference vote, then he is declared elected and this process continues till a candidate gets the desired quota.

Note - The Election Commission appoints the Secretary General of Lok Sabha and the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha as the returning officer alternatively in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections.

To eliminate non-serious candidates, the nomination paper of a candidate must be proposed by at least 20 members of the Electoral College and seconded by at least 20 members of the Electoral College. Every candidate has to submit a security deposit of Rs. 15000/-. The security deposit of candidates securing less than 1/6 of valid votes is forfeited.

Notification of Election of 15th Vice President of India

● The Election Commission of India notified the schedule of election of the 15th Vice President of India on 7th August 2025. The Elections were held on 9th Sept, 2025 between 10 AM to 5 PM at the Parliament House and then the counting of votes started at G PM and the result was declared by the Returning officer.

● In these elections, C.P. Radhakrishnan was the NDA Candidate, while B. Sudarshan Reddy was the common candidate of opposition parties.

● After the counting of the 1st preference votes, Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan got 452 votes while Sh. B. Sudarshan Reddy got 300 votes. As Sh, C.P. Radhakrishnan achieved the desired quota of 377, the returning officer (Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, Sh. P.C. Mody) declared Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan as the new Vice-President of India and issued him the winning certificate.

● Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan will take oath & assume office for a five year term as the 15th Vice President of India. He hails from the State of Tamilnadu.