The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has decided not to back CP Radhakrishnan, the Vice President nominee of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) playing the Tamil identity card and asking the DMK to support a Tamil candidate, the DMK leadership has decided to showcase the opposition’s unity.
A DMK leader, speaking to TNM, said the party has proposed the name of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Mylswamy Annadurai to counter the nomination of CP Radhakrishnan. “But there was no consensus, a few allies did not accept the proposal,” the leader said. Mylswamy Annadurai worked with ISRO for close to four decades and was the project director of Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan missions. He also served as the vice-president of the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology.
A leader of the Trinamool Congress told TNM that the opposition will settle for a common candidate and will give a tough fight.
The BJP naming its veteran leader and Governor of Maharashtra CP Radhakrishnan comes in the backdrop of the party’s concentrated effort to make inroads in Tamil Nadu and the announcement comes ahead of the crucial 2026 Assembly elections in the state.
Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Nainar Nagendran hailed the move to nominate CP Radhakrishnan as ‘a moment of pride for Tamil Nadu’. He also urged the DMK to correct its historical blunder of not supporting APJ Abdul Kalam, as president for the second time.
CP Radhakrishnan belongs to the Kongu Vellalar Gounder community, a dominant caste in the western regions of Tamil Nadu. The Kongu region is considered as a stronghold of the AIADMK and has been an electorally weak spot for the DMK. At the peak of anti incumbency against the AIADMK in 2021 assembly polls, the AIADMK managed to win 26 out of 38 seats in the western zone.
Speaking to the media, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said the party will not decide only based on the Tamil identity. “We will look at what the candidate has done to the state and their ideology,” he added.
DMK allies have opposed the nomination of CP Radhakrishnan as Vice President candidate and said he was handpicked based on his RSS credentials and not for his Tamil identity.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had spoken to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, seeking his support for CP Radhakrishnan.