New Delhi: Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was on Friday sworn in as the 15th vice president of India.
President Droupadi Murmu administered oath to the 67-year-old Radhakrishnan at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dressed in a red kurta, Radhakrishnan took oath in English in the name of God.
President Murmu congratulated Radhakrishnan after he took oath.
Radhakrishanan won the vice presidential election on Tuesday, defeating the joint opposition nominee B Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
The election was necessitated due to the sudden resignation of the then incumbent, Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21 over health issues.
Dhankhar was present at the ceremony, his first public appearance since his resignation as VP.
He was seated in the front row next to his predecessor Venkaiah Naidu and was seen conversing with him. Another former vice president Hamid Ansari was seated next to Naidu.
Dhankar’s wife Sudesh Dhankhar was also present on the occasion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda were on the front row across the aisle
Former president Ram Nath Kovind, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu were also present at the oath taking.
Dhankhar’s term was till August 10, 2027. According to the Constitution, the incumbent vice president who enters the office to fill the vacancy arising due to death or resignation will get a full five year term.
Radhakrishnan will hold the office till September 11, 2030.
He is the third leader from Tamil Nadu to occupy the coveted post.
Described as a ‘Pachai Tamizhan’ (true-blue Tamil) by well-wishers, Radhakrishnan was serving as the governor of Maharashtra when he was named as the vice presidential nominee of the BJP-led NDA.
Radhakrishnan on Tuesday described his election to the second-highest Constitutional post as a victory of the nationalistic ideology and vowed to work towards making India a developed nation by 2047.
He won the vice presidential election by bagging 452 votes, while the opposition candidate, Reddy, polled 300 votes.
