Congress congratulates VP-elect CP Radhakrishnan with a few 'wise words'

C P Radhakrishnan

A day after NDA's CP Radhakrishnan defeated INDIA bloc candidate B Sudershan Reddy in the Vice Presidential elections, the Congress on Wednesday extended best wishes to the VP-elect along with a message of impartiality.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh recounted the words of India's first Vice President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, saying that he "practised what he preached".

"While extending its best wishes to Shri C P Radhakrishnan, the newly-elected Vice President of India who will also be the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Indian National Congress recalls the wise words of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the very first Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha." "On the opening day of the Rajya Sabha on May 16, 1952, the very eminent philosopher-educationist-author-diplomat had said: 'I belong to no party, and that means I belong to every party in this House. It shall be my endeavour to uphold the traditions, the highest traditions, of parliamentary democracy and act towards each party with fairness and impartiality with ill-will to none and goodwill to all....A democracy is likely to degenerate into a tyranny if it does not allow the opposition groups to criticise fairly, freely, and frankly the policies of the Government'," Ramesh posted on X.

He added: "Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan practised what he preached, both in letter and spirit."

While extending its best wishes to Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, the newly-elected Vice President of India who will also be the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Indian National Congress recalls the wise words of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the very first Vice President and Chairman…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 10, 2025

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had also extended best wishes to Radhakrishnan on securing victory in the election, while expressing sincere gratitude to Reddy for being the "united Opposition's joint candidate" and for his spirited and principled fight.

Radhakrishnan, who will take oath as the Vice President on September 12, will also serve as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. On Tuesday, he swept the Vice Presidential elections after winning 452 votes while his opponent Reddy managed to secure 300.

Notably, Ramesh had earlier said that all 315 INDIA bloc MPs had voted in the election. The final result tally signals cross-voting by some opposition MPs.

Following the result, Reddy said he humbly accepts the defeat in the vice presidential polls and asserted that democracy is strengthened not by victory alone, but by the spirit of dialogue, dissent, and participation.

(With inputs from agencies)