Modi, flanked by Radhakrishnan and senior NDA leaders, handed over four sets of nomination papers to Rajya Sabha general secretary PC Mody, who is the returning officer for the vice-presidential election.
The four sets of nominations have Modi, Singh, Shah and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh as the main nominators.
A potential vice presidential candidate must have his or her declaration of candidacy endorsed by at least 20 voters as nominators and at least 20 other voters as seconders.
The NDA ensured representation of all its constituents as nominators and seconders in the four sets of nomination papers filed.
The returning officer examined the nomination papers, after which Radhakrishnan signed a register. The returning officer then gave an acknowledgment of receipt of the nomination papers to the Prime Minister.
Modi, Shah, senior ministers Pralhad Joshi, Dharmendra Pradhan and other NDA leaders including TDP chief and Union Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu, Shiv Sena chief Shrikant Shinde, LJSP (RV) chief Chirag Paswan escorted Radhakrishnan to the returning officer’s office in Parliament.
Earlier, Radhakrishan paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and other national leaders at Prerna Sthal, which houses statues of iconic personalities, in the Parliament complex.
Radhakrishnan, whose election as vice president is a certainty, was accompanied by Union ministers and other leaders of 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 vote.
The effective strength of the electoral college is 781 and the majority is 391. The ruling NDA enjoys the support of at least 422 members and non-Indian bloc parties such as the YSRCP have already announced their support for Radhakrishnan.
Described as a “Pachai Tamizhan” (true blue Tamil) by his well-wishers, Maharashtra Governor Radhakrishnan (67) is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who served as a Lok Sabha member from Coimbatore for two terms during the tenure of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and later led the party in Tamil. Nadu.
The NDA presents Radhakrishnan as an intact leader with rich political and administrative experience for the vice-president’s office and maintains that this would also prove useful as chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Radhakrishnan was the chairman of the All India Coir Board from 2016 to 2020, during which time coir exports saw a significant increase.
BJP president JP 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.
