Who Is ‘Vajpayee of Coimbatore-Tiruppur’, CP Radhakrishnan, In V-P Race?

February 1998: The industrial hub of Coimbatore trembled under a week of communitarian unrest. Shops lay gutted, homes were charred and streets were under curfew. The city was recovering from a large-scale riot in November and December of the previous year that had left twenty dead and thousands of homes looted. A second bout of violence struck on February 14, when 21 synchronised bombs ripped through crowded markets, killing 58 people and injuring over 200. The explosives, concealed in vehicles, bags and carts, sent an already tense city reeling.

Into this smouldering arena stepped CP Radhakrishnan, then a 41-year-old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organiser from neighbouring Tiruppur. Known more for his discipline than charisma, and backed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded him from the Coimbatore seat in the Lok Sabha election held weeks later.

Grief and anger at the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government’s perceived failure created a political opening. Radhakrishnan’s calm, steady persona, coupled with years of RSS shakha training, made him a focal point in the city. As Satheesh Kumar, a farm leader from Kinnathukadavu, said, “Whatever his ideology, he always reached out to every segment of society. Even when hate and mistrust prevailed, he looked accommodating and inclusive. I regard Radhakrishnan as a man who takes others into confidence, despite divergent political views. He will be able to handle affairs of the country in general and the Rajya Sabha in particular amicably if he is elected Vice President.”

The results of the Coimbatore election had stunned even Radhakrishnan’s party all those years ago. He stormed into the Lok Sabha with a record margin for the time—more than 1.3 lakh votes, defeating the DMK’s R Kandasamy. In 1999, he retained the seat, but with a narrower margin of 55,000 votes. That was a result of declining public sympathy and the reassertion of Dravidian dominance in Tamil Nadu. Yet, two consecutive wins confirmed he was no flash in the pan.

Stint in Corridors of Power

In Delhi, Radhakrishnan’s reputation grew not for firebrand speeches but for meticulous work. He championed industrial growth, worker welfare and Coimbatore’s infrastructure gaps. He chaired the Standing Committee on Textiles, examined finance and petroleum matters, probed the stock exchange scam and represented India at the United Nations General Assembly in 2003. In 2014, he joined India’s first parliamentary delegation to Taiwan. As chairman of the Coir Board (2016-20), he oversaw record export growth exceeding ₹2,500 crore.

By 2004, the DMK had reclaimed Coimbatore and saffron politics receded. Radhakrishnan contested multiple Assembly elections—in 2006, 2011 and later—but now lost each time. His defeats highlighted the limits of Hindutva in the Dravidian heartland, yet they earned him the reputation of a “lone warrior” for the BJP who refused to abandon the field despite electoral defeat.

As state BJP president from 2004 to 2007, he embarked on a 93-day, 19,000-km yatra across Tamil Nadu, campaigning on issues ranging from river interlinking and anti-untouchability to a Uniform Civil Code. These helped solidify his reputation as a capable organiser.

Like many leaders driven by conviction, Radhakrishnan, too, courted controversy. After twin blasts at the Chennai Central railway station in 2014, he blamed “minority appeasement politics”. In 2018, two decades after Coimbatore, he asserted that the police had orchestrated the 1997 riots to implicate Hindu activists. These statements reinforced his image as a Hindutva hardliner.

Yet, paradoxically, Radhakrishnan remained soft-spoken and conciliatory in his personal dealings, which earned him the sobriquet “Vajpayee of Western Tamil Nadu”. Within the BJP, he earned the moniker Ajatshatru—man without enemies. As Satheesh Kumar said, “Even as his parliamentary career stalled, Radhakrishnan reinvented himself as a strategist, less focused on winning constituencies and more about keeping the party alive in inhospitable terrain.” This duality—ideological rigidity in public, personal warmth in private—became his defining feature.

Born in 1957 in Tiruppur to CK Ponnusami and Janaki, Radhakrishnan grew up immersed in the RSS. A commerce and business administration graduate, he was a long-distance runner and table tennis enthusiast before venturing into the textile sector. Managing units in Coimbatore and Tiruppur, he built a successful export business under the brand name “Spice”, shipping cotton fabrics to Bangladesh.

In 1985, he married R Sumathi, and the couple has a son and a daughter. AP Muruganandam, BJP state general secretary, said that by choosing Radhakrishnan as the vice-president candidate for the NDA, Prime Minister Narnedra Modi has paid tribute to Tamil pride: “Hailing from the socially influential Kongu Vellala Gounder community, he brought pragmatism to politics, blending business acumen with organisational discipline. This recognition is akin to APJ Abdul Kalam’s elevation to the highest office of the country.”

Rehabilitation and Governerships

By the mid-2000s, Radhakrishnan’s electoral relevance had waned but not his organisational worth. A confidant of Vajpayee and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, he mediated delicate alliance negotiations. Post-2014, Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah valued him as a dependable hand in the South.

Radhakrishnan later served as governor of Jharkhand (2021), Meghalaya and Nagaland (2022), a second stint in Jharkhand (2023) and Maharashtra (2024), with additional charges of Telangana and Puducherry. He preferred consensus, cooperative federalism and low-profile stewardship, which won him goodwill even in non-BJP-ruled states.

As Satheesh Kumar said, “The ability to bridge divides is crucial for the vice-presidency, where the chair must command respect across party lines.”

Salem Dharanidharan, DMK national spokesperson, said: “We are pleased that the NDA has chosen a Tamil for the coveted position. But he must be the country’s vice-president and the protector of the rights of Rajya Sabha members across the spectrum. He should leave behind the past of an RSS-BJP leader. We hope he becomes a gentleman statesman and does justice to the emerging role.”

For now, the “Vajpayee of Kongu Nadu” embodies the BJP’s belief that loyalty, discipline and resilience matter as much as victory. Kongu Nadu comprises 14 districts of western Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore and Tiruppur. Kongu also refers to the Kongu Vellalar Gounder community to which Radhakrishnan is affiliated.