Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was on Friday sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, at a formal ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. 

President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office, marking Radhakrishnan’s assumption of the second-highest constitutional office in the country.

Senior leaders cutting across party lines have attended the swearing-in ceremony. Those present in the ceremony include Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

CP Radhakrishnan, the NDA nominee, won the Vice Presidential election on Tuesday after defeating the opposition INDIA bloc nominee B Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes. While Radhakrishnan secured 452 votes, his opponent Reddy got 300 votes. 

There were 781 electors (MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha). Of these, 767 electors have cast their votes. The total electoral turnout was 98.2 per cent. Out of the total votes polled, 752 were valid and 15 were invalid. Interestingly, Radhakrishnan received 14 votes more than NDA had expected, sparking speculations of cross-voting from the Opposition camp.

Radhakrishnan is the third Vice President from Tamil Nadu after S Radhakrishnan (1952 to 1962) and R Venkatraman (1984 to 1987).

After the poll results were officially announced, Radhakrishnan formally resigned from the post of Maharashtra Governor on Thursday. Following this, President Murmu appointed Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat to take additional charge as the Governor of Maharashtra, an official statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed.

As per sources, after the oath ceremony, Vice President Radhakrishnan has scheduled a meeting with all floor leaders of the Rajya Sabha at 12:30 PM.

Source: ETV Bharat
--Agencies