NDA candidate Radhakrishan files nomination papers for vice presidential election

NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan on Wednesday filed his nomination papers for the vice presidential election in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders.

Modi, flanked by Radhakrishnan and senior NDA leaders, handed over four sets of nomination papers to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, who is the returning officer for the vice presidential election.

The four sets of nomination papers have Modi, Singh, Shah and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh as lead proposers.

A prospective vice-presidential candidate is required to get his nomination paper subscribed to by at least 20 electors as proposers and at least another 20 electors as seconders.

The NDA has ensured representation of all its constituents as proposers and seconders in the four sets of nomination papers that were filed.

The returning officer examined the nomination papers following which Radhakrishnan signed a register. The returning officer then handed over an acknowledgement slip of the nomination papers to the prime minister.

Modi, Shah, senior ministers Pralhad Joshi, Dharmendra Pradhan and other NDA leaders, including TDP leader and Union Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu, Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde, LJSP (RV) leader Chirag Paswan escorted Radhakrishnan to the office of the returning officer in Parliament.

Earlier, Radhakrishan paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and other national leaders at Prerna Sthal, which houses statues of iconic personalities, in Parliament complex.

Radhakrishnan, whose election as vice president is a certainty, was accompanied by Union ministers and other leaders from the BJP-led alliance.

The electoral college for the vice presidential elections comprises members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha are also eligible to cast their votes.

The effective strength of the electoral college is 781 and the majority mark is 391. The ruling NDA enjoys the support of at least 422 members and non-INDIA bloc parties such as YSRCP have already announced support to Radhakrishnan.

Described as a "Pachai Tamizhan" (true-blue Tamil) by well wishers, Maharashtra Governor Radhakrishnan (67) is a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader who served as a two-term member of the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore during the tenure of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and later, went on to lead the party in Tamil Nadu.

The NDA is projecting Radhakrishnan as an untainted leader with rich political and administrative experience for the vice-president's office and maintaining that this would also prove useful as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Radhakrishnan was the chairman of the All India Coir Board from 2016 to 2020, a period when coir exports witnessed a significant jump.

BJP president J P Nadda described Radhakrishnan as a "statesman" who commands respect across party lines. He belongs to the influential Gounder caste, an Other Backward Classes (OBC) community in Tamil Nadu.