Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was probably the first corporate-honcho-turned-politician to assume gubernatorial roles in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. And, now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has picked him as the candidate for the post of Vice-President of India.
The INDIA bloc has, meanwhile, firmed up the candidature of B. Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court justice, well-known for his ruling on the appointment of villagers as special police officers – Salwa Judum – to combat the Naxalite menace in Chhattisgarh, which he held was illegal and ordered it to be disbanded.
A textile doyen from the township of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, who was once acknowledged as the biggest exporter of textiles and (polyester) yarn to Bangladesh, Radhakrishnan has a strong RSS background although his father was a left-leaning CPI supporter. Well-travelled across the world, he has often espoused the need for the textile trade between India and America to be taken forward as joint partners, but could not have expected plans for his intended elevation.
The BJP had to suddenly contend with the resignation of the sitting VP Jagdeep Dhankhar, a veteran politician and advocate, who was elevated to the penultimate political post in India swiftly, even as Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee was contemplating an impeachment motion against him, while he was serving as governor of West-Bengal.
The failure of an experiment to install a Jat leader, Dhankhar as VP, although he was known to have cut his political teeth under Sanjay Gandhi in the Congress party, resulted in the next incumbent BJP’s loyalty factor and ‘Hindutva’ leanings becoming a pre-requisite for selection by the NDA alliance, led by the BJP. Radhakrishnan fulfilled his right-wing criteria and started as an RSS swayamsevak before being appointed as a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Janasangh in 1974. He was appointed the BJP’s Tamil Nadu Secretary in 1996 before being elected as a member of Parliament in 1998 and again in 1999 from Coimbatore.
An interesting hobby of Maharashtra’s current governor is his ability to sculpt the imagery of Hindu deities out of random pieces of discarded logwood he encounters, perchance on the expansive Raj Bhavan’s verdant landscape or even beachfront.
His former stints in Parliament included membership of the Parliamentary Special Committee investigating the stock exchange scam, chairmanship of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Textiles, membership of the committee for PSUs and consultative committee for finance.
His own ratha yatra
Between 2004 and 2007, he served as BJP president of Tamil Nadu when he undertook a 93-day-long ratha yatra, covering over 19,000 km to demand the inter-linking of all Indian rivers, eradication of terrorism, implementation of a uniform civil code, removal of untouchability, as well as combating of narcotic drugs.
Radhakrishnan served as the All India in-charge of Kerala for the BJP during 2020-22, before his first gubernatorial role as governor of Jharkhand in February 2023. He is a devout Hindu and not restricted to being just a temple-going person. He belongs to the Goundar community that falls within the ‘other backward community’ (OBC) classification.
“He is religious and does not eat his first morsel without offering his prayers to lord almighty first,” says Umesh Kashikar, media manager, Raj Bhavan, Maharashtra. “He offers the first morsel to either God or birds, as per his belief system. Even while at meetings, he finds time to stop for a moment to pray. Even before finishing his meals, his daily custom is to offer thanks to farmers by observing a few moments of silence before leaving his place at the dining table.”
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s candidate for the second-highest political office in India served as governor of Jharkhand (one-and-a-half years) and Maharashtra from 31 July 2024, with additional charge as governor for Telangana and lieutenant governor of Puducherry. He was appointed before this as chairman of the Coir Board, Kochi, for four years during 2016-20, when coir export from India spiralled from Rs600 crore to Rs2,532 crore. While the post may have been a political appointment, coming as it does under the Union ministry for micro, small and medium enterprises, the presumed VP-elect, who hails from the textile town of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, had led a successful textile business enterprise to international acclaim.
“He had emerged as the biggest exporter of textiles and garments to Bangladesh in his business avatar, meeting the demands for yarn and textile products, alongside several South American nations, including Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, and others. His knowledge, expertise regarding the in-and-out of the business domain, particularly on cotton and textile trade, saw him ascending to the post of chairman of the parliamentary committee on textiles, also before his gubernatorial appointments,” informs Kashikar.
Before he indulged in politics, however, Radhakrishnan had eschewed his business reins in favour of his son and other family members. Now, he awaits what is to befall come September!