NDA’s VP candidate CP Radhakrishnan

By Sushil Kutty

As is his wont, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made one of his standard Smart Alec comments when holding forth on the BJP/NDA vice-presidential candidate, CP Radhakrishnan. Apparently, ‘CP’ and Modi are long-standing friends with Radhakrishnan’s deadly devotion to public service, the clincher in CPR’s favour. Modi has “endorsed” CP Radhakrishnan for Vice-President and nothing else needs to be told.

Obviously, ‘CPR’ is a far cry from ‘Vice-President’ Jagdeep Dhankhar, who went without much to leave behind except the Bharatiya Janata Party’s surprise exclusion from Dhankhar’s circle, which Modi& Co., never thought would turn out like it did, much to the surprise of the saffron party.

Dhankar left a shadow and ‘CPR’ will fill it like the BJP expects him to. What is going in favour for Radhakrishnan is his long innings with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Modi knows ‘CPR’ in and out. Modi has urged the entire Opposition to support and vote for Radhakrishnan, his optimism refusing to drop from his sleeve.

“We have been friends for over 40 years; back then, our hair was black,” Modi said, meaning both Modi and “CPR” have gone grey. Another ‘Dhankhar-like’ VeePee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hair might lose all colour. Fact is, a lot of thought must have gone into selecting CP Radhakrishnan for the slot left vacant by Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Currently, Radhakrishnan is Maharashtra Governor and hasn’t been anybody’s headache; no rancours with opposition parties, none anything at all. Modi couldn’t stop himself from praising Radhakrishnan at a felicitation for the NDA/BJP candidate at the Parliament Complex on Tuesday with the Prime Minister expressing happiness and enthusiasm.

The Prime Minister urged the Opposition to vote for “CPR”. Somebody said “high hopes” but that is neither here nor there. “CPR” has fan-following beyond NDA circles and his is a familiar face to MPs and MLAs across parties. “CPR” was expected to file his nomination papers on Wednesday accompanied by over 150 MPs and Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states.

Meanwhile, word has gone around that Radhakrishnan’s is everybody’s idea of Vice-President and his supporters span all parties. Also, that he is a Chola equivalent though Prime Minister Modi praised “CPR” for his simple lifestyle and dedication to public service.

“He might have a lot of interest in sports, but he does not play games in politics,” Modi said of the two-time former Lok Sabha MP from Coimbatore. “CPR” was also a Tamil Nadu BJP president and an RSS functionary.

Radhakrishnan’s interest in sports is a known factor. Jagdeep Dhankhar and Radhakrishnan are like chalk and cheese. Dhankhar resigned on July 21 under mysterious circumstances. Modi has called for a unanimous election, but it is hard to guess why Radhakrishnan should be accorded such a concession.

So, there will be a contest, after all. The BJP believes Radhakrishnan will find support from across political parties and across states. Prime Minister Modi has been laying the 9oground for the election of the BJP/NDA candidate, and has been citing reasons why “CPR” fits the role eminently. Among the reasons Modi cited included issues like “S&P Global Ratings’ recent upgrade of India’s long-term sovereign credit rating” and the robust state of India’s economy, next-generation reforms and GST rate simplification.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju hailed the NDA’s stand on Radhakrishnan’s nomination. “CPR is an excellent choice for vice president. Everyone has accepted this. There has been no controversy in his life, no corruption, no stain; he has lived a simple life, working only for society and the country. If such a person becomes VP, it will be a matter of great happiness for the nation.”

That being said, “CPR” will likely get a cakewalk. Some in the Opposition might even vote for the NDA candidate but Prime Minister Modi’s assertion that “CPR doesn’t play games” has left a good taste in opposition mouths. And everybody is asking everybody else to vote for “CPR”.

Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Minister MK Stalin and sought support for Radhakrishnan with the request hopefully finding favour with the DMK, a thinking that will go astray. Only the naive will agree that the Tamil of the Dravidian stock will vote for a BJP/RSS candidate.

Also, things are too close for the assembly elections and Tamil Nadu has a huge complement of Muslim voters. There is apparently a great equation between Chief Minister MK Stalin and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh but that won’t work wonders. Besides, DMK leads an alliance.

CPR’s is a well-known name and a pretty well-recognized face “down south” but the southern states are non-BJP ruled and none of them are aligned with the BJP in any manner discernable. Puducherry Chief Minister Rangaswamy is an exception and he has sworn support to the NDA candidate, but a state like Kerala is completely out of the BJP’s orbit.

Karnataka is Congress-ruled and so is Telangana. The only exception is the TDP-ruled Andhra Pradesh. The feeling one gets is CP Radhakrishnan will be elected Vice-President by the NDA which has a majority-flock of MPs and MLAs to elect the next Vice-President without much ado.

On Tuesday Rajnath Singh and BJP’s state unit Chief Nainar Nagenthran called up Chief Minister MK Stalin and spoke of “Tamil pride” and “improved ties if “CPR” is elected Vice President. Problem is, in these times of dog-eat-dog, nothing is a surety, “guaranteed”. (IPA Service)

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