Grassroots to Governor: The Rise of CP Radhakrishnan, NDA’s VP nominee

Chennai: C P Radhakrishnan was appointed Governor of Jharkhand in February 2023, as part of the BJP’s efforts to pave the way for younger leadership in Tamil Nadu to take over the mantle.

Two-and-a-half years later, the 68-year-old former BJP veteran, who cut his political teeth in the RSS, has been thrust into the national spotlight after being named the Vice-Presidential candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). From Jharkhand, he was later transferred to Maharashtra.

Fondly known as CPR, Radhakrishnan hails from the influential Gounder community, a section of which has extended support to the saffron party over the past decade. A former chief of the Tamil Nadu BJP, he is credited with growing the party in the communally sensitive city of Coimbatore.

Born in India’s knitwear hub, Tiruppur, in 1957, CPR was associated with the RSS from his early days and was elected as a State Executive Committee member of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in 1974.

A grassroots leader who always kept his ear to the ground, CPR, a man from the A B Vajpayee-L K Advani era, was elected MP from Coimbatore in 1998 and 1999, when the BJP was in alliance with the AIADMK and DMK, respectively. In 1998, he won the seat with highest margin in the state riding high on the bomb blasts in Coimbatore that killed 58 people.

Though he lost the elections in 2004 and again in 2019 (when the BJP was allied with the AIADMK), CPR polled about 3.89 lakh votes without the support of Dravidian parties in the 2014 elections -- much of it credited to his personal clout. In 2024, K Annamalai, a fellow Gounder who contested from Coimbatore after Radhakrishnan stepped aside, polled over 4.50 lakh votes.

Colleagues describe CPR as a down-to-earth person who built friendships across the political spectrum. Even leaders in the DMK would often remark that he is “the right person in the wrong party.”

K T Raghavan, a senior TN BJP leader who served as chief of the party’s youth wing under CPR, told DH that the NDA’s Vice-Presidential nominee has not changed over the years.

“He is a good soul. He is utterly honest, and I have only ever seen him spending from his own pocket for the party. He is a friendly person who always respected his peers and cadres. Even after becoming Governor, he would be the first to wish his former colleagues on auspicious occasions,” Raghavan said.

Radhakrishnan’s appointment as Governor in 2023 -- the third senior Tamil Nadu leader sent to Raj Bhavans across the country after Tamilisai Soundararajan and L Ganesan (who passed away on August 15) -- was also aimed at wooing the Gounder community, spread across western Tamil Nadu’s Kongu region.

Though the BJP may have had broader calculations -- including a South India outreach, CPR’s RSS background, and his non-controversial image -- the nomination is also part of the saffron party’s efforts to make inroads into Tamil Nadu, where it has so far struggled to gain a foothold.

The Gounders, whom the BJP believes have a “soft corner” for the party, are seen as a key entrepreneurial community that could eventually rally behind the party electorally, if not immediately.

“Radhakrishnan is a veteran in Tamil Nadu BJP and has played a major role in establishing the saffron party in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode districts of the western region. He will be well-versed in parliamentary rules and procedures, having served as a member of the Lok Sabha twice,” senior journalist Maalan Narayanan told DH.

“But the real test for him comes now, as he takes charge of running the Rajya Sabha, his chances of being elected are high, given the opposition is currently in militant mode,” he added.

As Tamil Nadu BJP President, Radhakrishnan undertook a 19,000 km ‘Ratha Yatra’ that lasted 93 days, highlighting his demands for linking all Indian rivers, eradicating terrorism, implementing a uniform civil code, abolishing untouchability, and combating the menace of narcotic drugs. He also led two more padayatras for different causes.

An avid sportsperson, Radhakrishnan was a college champion in table tennis and a long-distance runner, and he also enjoyed playing cricket and volleyball.