C. P. Radhakrishnan has been elected as the 15th Vice President of the country. The NDA candidate and Governor of Maharashtra, C. P. Radhakrishnan, achieved a resounding victory in the Vice Presidential election. He defeated Indian Alliance candidate B. Sudarshan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
New Delhi: India has had 14 Vice Presidents so far, and recently, C. P. Radhakrishnan has been elected as the 15th Vice President of the country. C. P. Radhakrishnan, the NDA candidate and Governor of Maharashtra, registered a significant win by defeating the INDIA Alliance candidate B. Sudarshan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
This election was held not on August 9, 2022, but in 2025, in which a total of 767 votes were cast out of 781, and 752 valid votes were recorded. C. P. Radhakrishnan received 452 first preference votes, while Sudarshan Reddy received 300 votes. C. P. Radhakrishnan hails from Tamil Nadu, and there was considerable enthusiasm in South India following his victory. Supporters from Delhi to Tamil Nadu celebrated his win.
How many Muslim Vice Presidents have there been?
Out of a total of 15 Vice Presidents in India so far, 3 have been Muslim. These include Mohammad Hidayatullah, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, and others. This fact indicates the diversity of India and the participation of various communities in its democratic system. So far, no woman has served as the Vice President of India. In 2007, Najma Heptulla was the NDA's candidate for the Vice President's post but lost the election. Although Pratibha Patil became the first woman President of the country, no woman has had the opportunity to serve as Vice President yet.
History shows that six Vice Presidents have been elected from the South Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. This regional representation demonstrates an effort to ensure balanced representation from different parts of the country for the Vice Presidency.
| S. No. | Vice President | Term (From) | Term (To) |
| 1 | Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | May 13, 1952 | May 12, 1962 |
| 2 | Dr. Zakir Husain | May 13, 1962 | May 12, 1967 |
| 3 | Varahagiri Venkata Giri | May 13, 1967 | July 20, 1969 |
| 4 | Gopal Swarup Pathak | August 31, 1969 | August 30, 1974 |
| 5 | Basappa Danappa Jatti | August 31, 1974 | August 30, 1979 |
| 6 | Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah | August 31, 1979 | August 30, 1984 |
| 7 | Ramaswamy Venkataraman | August 31, 1984 | July 24, 1987 |
| 8 | Shankar Dayal Sharma | September 7, 1987 | July 24, 1992 |
| 9 | Kocheril Raman Narayanan | August 21, 1992 | July 24, 1997 |
| 10 | Krishan Kant | August 21, 1997 | July 27, 2002 |
| 11 | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat | August 19, 2002 | July 21, 2007 |
| 12 | Mohammad Hamid Ansari | August 11, 2007 | August 10, 2017 |
| 13 | M. Venkaiah Naidu | August 11, 2017 | August 11, 2022 |
| 14 | Jagdeep Dhankhar | August 11, 2022 | July 21, 2025 |
Who had the longest tenure?
Among the 14 leaders who have served as Vice President, two leaders have served the longest –
- Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan – who served for a continuous period of 10 years from 1952 to 1962.
- Mohammad Hamid Ansari – who held the office of Vice President for 10 years from 2007 to 2017.
In their long tenures, both leaders not only strengthened parliamentary traditions but also effectively advanced constitutional processes. The Vice President of India is not directly elected by the public. Under Article 66 of the Constitution, the Vice President is elected by all members of both Houses of Parliament – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – whether elected or nominated. The election is conducted through a secret ballot, and the first-past-the-post system is used.
