Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India on Friday, September 12, 2025, in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office at 10:10 am. The event was attended by prominent leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Vice Presidents Jagdeep Dhankhar, Venkaiah Naidu, and Hamid Ansari, along with several Union ministers.

Radhakrishnan, aged 68, is a veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Tamil Nadu with strong ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He secured 452 votes in the vice-presidential election, defeating the opposition's nominee, B. Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, who received 300 votes.

The Vice Presidential election was necessitated by the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21, 2025. Following his election as Vice President, Radhakrishnan stepped down as the Governor of Maharashtra. President Murmu assigned Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat the additional charge of Maharashtra until further orders.

Born on May 4, 1957, in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan has been associated with the RSS since his youth and has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore in 1998 and again in 1999. He served as the state president of the BJP in Tamil Nadu from 2003 to 2006. Before becoming Vice President, Radhakrishnan served as the Governor of Maharashtra from July 2024 to September 2025 and the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024. He also held additional responsibilities as Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.

Radhakrishnan's political journey began early, joining the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and RSS at 17. He was elected to the Jan Sangh's state executive committee in 1974. In 1998, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing Coimbatore, marking a significant win for the BJP in Tamil Nadu. During his parliamentary tenure, he was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Textiles and a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Public Sector Undertakings and the Consultative Committee for Finance. He also addressed the UN General Assembly in 2004 as part of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation.

As the BJP Tamil Nadu state president, Radhakrishnan undertook a 93-day "Ratha Yatra" to advocate for linking Indian rivers, eradicating untouchability, and campaigning against terrorism. He also chaired the Coir Board from 2016 to 2020, during which India's coir exports reached a record high.

Radhakrishnan's election as Vice President saw support from NDA member parties and the YSRCP, with some indications of cross-voting in his favor. Thirteen MPs abstained from voting. September 12 was chosen for the swearing-in ceremony due to its auspicious timing. After the ceremony, Radhakrishnan paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.