NDA's vice-presidential nominee reaches Delhi; meets PM Modi, other leaders

Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan arrived in the national capital on Monday and met leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after he was named as its vice-presidential candidate.

A host of Union ministers, including the BJP's Bhupender Yadav, Pralhad Joshi and Kiren Rijiju and the TDP's K Ram Mohan Naidu, received Radhakrishnan here, ahead of a host of meetings the NDA has planned in connection with his campaign.

Later in the evening, the vice-presidential candidate attended a meeting of NDA leaders where he was felicitated.


Official sources said Radhakrishnan may file his nomination on August 20, with chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of several states ruled by the BJP and its allies expected to be part of the exercise besides Modi and many of his Cabinet colleagues.

After the former Tamil Nadu BJP president and two-term ex-Lok Sabha MP met him, Modi said on X, "Met Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji. Conveyed my best wishes on his being the NDA's vice-presidential nominee."

"His long years of public service and experience across domains will greatly enrich our nation. May he continue to serve the nation with the same dedication and resolve he has always demonstrated," the prime minister said.

The NDA's numerical superiority has made Radhakrishnan's victory a certainty. But the ruling alliance's managers are in overdrive to consolidate maximum support in his favour to send out a political statement amid indications by the INDIA bloc parties that it will force a contest by naming its own candidate.

The NDA received a boost after former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, one of the few parties not aligned to either of the two rival blocs, extended its support to Radhakrishnan's candidature.

The regional party has 11 MPs in Parliament, whose members make up the electoral college for the VP election. Union minister Rajnath Singh, who is overseeing the campaign and has reached out to different parties, had spoken to Reddy, sources said.

The BJP is also eying support from two other unaligned regional parties, Odisha's BJD and Telangana's BRS, and some Independents. A source said they are hopeful of getting support from over 440 MPs in the electoral college of 781 members.