The making of Tamil Nadu’s ‘second’ Radhakrishnan

Radhakrishnan’s political journey began young. At 17, he became a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh

In an old,cramped, two-storey concrete house in southern Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district, Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, elected on Tuesday as India’s 15th Vice President, was born to small-time businessman CK Ponnusamy and Janaki Ammal on May 4, 1957.

Radhakrishnan during a campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Coimbatore. (HT File)

“We named him Radhakrishnan, hoping he would become like President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,” his mother said, her voice brimming with pride. “Lord Sundaramoorthy has elevated him,” she added, referring to a 8th century devotee of Hindu God Shiva who is venerated in the region.

India’s first vice-president and second president, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, was born in Thiruttani, 424kmaway.

In Tiruppur’s dusty lanes, where Radhakrishnan once played cricket with friends, neighbours erupted in celebration. Childhood friend Mohan Karthik, recalling the boy who never raised his voice in anger, said, “We studied together in a small government elementary school and played on the streets. He treated everyone equally.”

“Even in school, he was known for his seriousness and steadiness, always focused on academics and reading apart from sports. Outside the playground, he kept away from recreation—never inclined towards films or aimless outings.”

At the Government Subramania Chettiar Higher Secondary School, teachers gathered to remember the boy who sat in their classrooms. “He studied here,” recalled teacher Ponselvi. “Through hard work and determination, he reached great heights. He is an inspiration for present and future students.”

“In the classroom, he was already considered an authority on Indian puraṇas and culture. It was clear he was sharp, ambitious, and intellectually driven from his formative years. While we never had the chance to meet his former teachers, we were able to interact with many of his fellow students, who remember him with admiration.’’

Radhakrishnan’s political journey began young. At 17, when most peers were absorbed in sports and studies, he became a state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party, in 1974. By then, he was already steeped in the discipline of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, attending shakhas with the intensity he once reserved for sports. He would later serve as city chief of the RSS in Tiruppur and rise through its organisational ranks.

Radhakrishnan’s father, Ponnusamy, came from a modest middle-class Kongu Vellalar Gounder family in Tiruppur and was known as a large-scale agriculturist, though he kept away from politics. The more prominent political presence in the family was his paternal uncle, CK Kuppusamy, a senior Congress leader who was elected three times as Member of Parliament from Coimbatore. Kuppusamy’s stature ensured that politics was never far from Radhakrishnan’s early environment, even though he would eventually chart his own course with the RSS-BJP rather than follow the family’s Congress lineage.

A long-distance runner and table tennis enthusiast, he cultivated habits of endurance and patience early. He studied commerce and business administration in college. In the 1980s and 1990s, Radhakrishnan ventured into textile export business from Tiruppur, India’s knitwear hub, under the brand “Spice”. His operations catered to international markets, including the US and Europe, giving him deep insights into global trade and the textile industry’s dynamics. This early entrepreneurial experience laid a foundation of financial independence and strategic acumen that would later support his broader professional pursuits. Now he has handed over the business completely to some members of the extended family, local BJP leaders said.

In 1985, he married R Sumathi, with whom he has a son and daughter. Friends describe him as soft-spoken at home and methodical at work. “He is a very simple and honest person. It is a big recognition for Tamil Nadu,” said BJP national women’s wing president and Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan.

A meticulous parliamentarian

The defining crucible of Radhakrishnan’s political career came in February 1998. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu’s second-largest city and 60km from Tiruppur, was rocked by 21 synchronised bomb blasts that ripped through crowded markets, buses, and civic buildings. It would emerge later that the blasts were the handiwork of a terror group, Al Ummah, retaliation for communal riots that had left 20 people, most of them Muslim, dead the previous year.

Fifty-eight people were killed, over 200 injured, and the already fraying communal fabric torn apart. Amid grief and rage, public anger mounted against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government.

It was into this smouldering arena that the BJP fielded Radhakrishnan, then 41, as its Lok Sabha candidate. He was no firebrand orator but backed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), he campaigned as a man who would bring order and conviction.

Riding the tide of anger, he won by a margin of over 130,000 votes, defeating the DMK’s candidate, R Kandasamy. In 1999, he retained the seat, though by a narrower 55,000 votes as sympathy waned. Two consecutive victories in Coimbatore marked him as more than an accident of circumstance.

“Whatever his ideology, he always reached out to every segment of society,” said Satheesh Kumar, a farm leader from Kinnathukadavu in Coimbatore. “Even when hate and mistrust prevailed, he looked accommodating and inclusive.”

HT has previously reported how Radhakrishnan missed a spot in the Union Cabinet after a confusion over his name in 2000, during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

In Delhi, Radhakrishnan earned a reputation as a meticulous parliamentarian. He championed industrial growth and worker welfare, especially in Coimbatore’s textile sector. He chaired the Standing Committee on Textiles, examined finance and petroleum matters, and probed the stock exchange scam. He represented India at the United Nations General Assembly in 2003 and spoke at 23rd Special Session women empowerment and joined India’s first parliamentary delegation to Taiwan in 2014.

‘Vajpayee of Coimbatore’

By 2004, the DMK had reclaimed Coimbatore, and Radhakrishnan was to never again taste electoral victory. Yet, within the BJP, his stature didn’t dip. As state president from 2004 to 2007, he embarked on a 93-day, 19,000-km Rath Yatra across Tamil Nadu, raising issues from river-linking to eradicating untouchability and advocating a Uniform Civil Code. Despite meagre electoral returns, he was seen as the man who kept the saffron flame alive in hostile political terrain.

“He has always been a long-distance runner,” said BJP Tamil Nadu general secretary AP Muruganandam, who also hails from Tiruppur. “Kongu region has supported the NDA on many occasions. His election as vice-president is not only a gift to the region but to the entire state.”

In his formative years, local RSS shakhas in Tiruppur and Coimbatore instilled discipline in him. As he rose through the ranks, Radhakrishnan developed close ties with senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani and M Venkaiah Naidu, while also drawing guidance from Tamil Nadu state leaders such as AK Palaniswami. This blend of ideological mentorship and practical political counsel enabled him to navigate both state and national politics, culminating in his nomination as the NDA’s candidate for Vice President in 2025.

The years that followed revealed both ideological sharpness and personal gentleness. After the 2014 twin blasts at Chennai Central railway station, he accused the state government of “minority appeasement politics.” In 2018, he controversially alleged that state police had orchestrated the 1997 riots to implicate Hindu activists. These statements reinforced his image as a Hindutva hardliner. Yet in private, rivals found him approachable.

This duality — ideological rigidity in public, conciliatory warmth in personal dealings — earned him the sobriquet “Vajpayee of Coimbatore.”

A politically dexterous leader

Radhakrishnan was one of the BJP leaders who made the transition from the Vajpayee-Advani era to the Modi-Shah era. In 2016, he became the chair of the Coir Board, overseeing record export growth beyond ₹2,500 crore. In 2020, he was named BJP in-charge for Kerala, navigating sensitive alliance negotiations. He maintained a respectful rapport with DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and, notably, with his arch-rival J Jayalalithaa, a rarity among BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu.

His gubernatorial career began in 2021 with Jharkhand, later extended to Nagaland, Meghalaya, Puducherry, and Maharashtra. Unlike many of his peers, Radhakrishnan chose low-profile functioning over confrontation with the elected government.

“A governor is not meant to be a combatant,” he once remarked in private conversation. “The Constitution requires restraint.”

This ethos won him goodwill even in Opposition-ruled states.

“Radhakrishnan is known for his cordial relationships across political lines. He also has a good relationship with Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, who he visited during a period of illness, and with leaders like Edappadi K Palaniswami of the AIADMK. Radhakrishnan is credited with demonstrating rare political dexterity in forging a short-lived but significant understanding between the BJP and the secular DMK, highlighting his pragmatic, non-confrontational approach. These relationships underscore his diplomatic skills and unique ability to build bridges in India’s diverse political landscape,” said Satheesh Kumar, farmer leader and entrepreneur from neighbouring Kinnathukadavu in Coimbatore, who has personally known Radhakrishnan for long.

On August 17, 2025, when Radhakrishnan filed his nomination as the NDA’s Vice Presidential candidate, Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded him: “Your roles as a parliamentarian and as governor of different states have played a significant role in effectively fulfilling the constitutional duties. I am sure your vast experience and wisdom will enhance the prestige of the Upper House and achieve new milestones.”

The second V-P Radhakrishnan from Tamil Nadu

If Radhakrishnan’s rise carries symbolic resonance, it is partly because of what it means to Tamil Nadu. Since R Venkataraman (1984-87), no Tamil had held India’s second-highest constitutional post. By elevating him, the BJP hopes to consolidate its base in western Tamil Nadu, particularly among the Gounder (Kongu Vellala) community.

“It was BJP which made a Tamilian, Abdul Kalam, President in recent years. Now it is again our party which is making another Tamilian V-P,” Vanathi Srinivasan said.

The BJP is fighting the 2026 assembly election in alliance with the AIADMK, hoping to unseat the DMK that is looking for a second straight term.

AIADMK general secretary EK Palaniswami thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for choosing a Tamil for the post.

“Radhakrishnan’s nomination was a moment of pride for Tamil Nadu. His candidacy reflected national recognition for our state, and all MPs from Tamil Nadu should have supported him. Any opposition to his nomination was politically motivated, especially considering the DMK had previously allied with the BJP despite his affiliations” Palaniswami said.

Salem Dharanidharan, DMK national spokesperson, added: “We are pleased that the NDA has chosen a Tamil for the coveted position. But he must be the country’s V-P and the protector of the rights of Rajya Sabha members across the spectrum.” The DMK backed the Opposition’s joint candidate, former top court judge B Sudershan Reddy.

For Radhakrishnan, the big challenge could be in his role as the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, a chamber known for sharp ideological divides. Radhakrishnan, the ultimate long-distance runner of politics, appears suited to the marathon ahead.

For Janaki Ammal, the moment is less about politics than the arc of destiny. The name she whispered into her newborn’s ear six decades ago has now echoed across history. Another Radhakrishnan from Tamil Nadu has become vice-president of India.