Key India block meeting underway at Kharge’s residence

August 18, 2025

New Delhi: The key Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc is undergoing at Congress Chief Kharge’s residence at Delhi. 

This comes as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as their Vice Presidential candidate.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Radhakrishnan in the national capital.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister extended his wishes to Radhakrishnan, highlighting his decades of public service.

“Met Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji. Conveyed my best wishes on his being the NDA’s Vice Presidential nominee. His long years of public service and experience across domains will greatly enrich our nation. May he continue to serve the nation with the same dedication and resolve he has always demonstrated,” PM Modi wrote on X.

Met Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji. Conveyed my best wishes on his being the NDA’s Vice Presidential nominee. His long years of public service and experience across domains will greatly enrich our nation. May he continue to serve the nation with the same dedication and resolve he has… pic.twitter.com/5vjFzzwUqn

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2025

On Sunday, BJP National President JP Nadda announced Radhakrishnan as the candidate for the VP elections, with the elections set to take place on September 9. The parliamentary board of the party took a unanimous decision, after discussing with their alliance partners, and also the opposition party, to ensure a smooth VP election.

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan has been serving as the 24th Governor of Maharashtra since July 31, 2024. He previously served as the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024. He also held additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March and July 2024.

A veteran BJP leader, Radhakrishnan, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore twice and previously served as the Tamil Nadu BJP State President.

The Congress, in turn, has criticised the NDA’s nomination of C.P. Radhakrishnan as Vice Presidential candidate, calling him “another RSS man.”

A Vice President’s term is for five years. However, the post fell vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on July 21, citing health reasons.

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