New Delhi, Aug. 23 -- In the inner circles of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, CP Radhakrishnan's nomination has brought joy not just because he's a grassroots leader from Tamil Nadu, but also because the 68-year-old narrowly missed high-profile Lutyens' assignments - twice. Radhakrishnan's team and senior BJP leaders confirmed to HT that if things had gone according to plan, he would have been a Union minister in the Vajpayee cabinet in Delhi in 2000, more than a quarter of a century ago and then in the first Narendra Modi government in 2014. The story goes that Radhakrishnan, having joined the BJP (then the Jan Sangh) in the 70s, knew central leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, well. He was part of the Sangh's state executive committee and then won the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat in both 1998 and 1999, with impressive margins. So, when Vajpayee was looking to reshuffle his cabinet a year after taking office, in 2000, he thought Radhakrishnan would be a good addition to his team. At the swearing-in ceremony on September 29, when Radhakrishnan's turn came, Vajpayee is reported to have turned to his colleague LK Advani and asked," Woh daari waala kahan hai? (Where is the bearded man)", a reference to Radhakrishnan. Only, the party seemed to have sent a message to the other Radhakrishnan in its stable, Pon Radhakrishnan, the member of Parliament from Nagercoil. While Pon Radhakrishnan may have been equally deserving, having served in the standing committee of industry and having nurtured the Nagercoil constituency since he first contested there in 1991, Vajpayee's choice missed out. "Yes, it is a true story,'' was all that Abhaysinha Deshmukh, CP Radhakrishnan's aide said, when contacted by HT. CPR served as a member of the parliamentary standing committee in public sector undertakings till the government lasted in 2004. His next opportunity to become a minister was during the landmark 2014 election, but Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha made the fight for the Coimbatore seat a prestige battle and even though CPR got 33.6% of the votes, he lost to the AIADMK's P Nagarajan. Yet again, Pon Radhakrishnan won his seat, from Kanyakumari this time, and was inducted in the Narendra Modi cabinet. "I don't know about what he could have been but I can confirm that CP Radhakrishnan is a person who gets along with all parties and everyone. So he will make an excellent vice president,'' said the state general secretary of BJP, AP Muruganandam. HT reached out to Pon Radhakrishnan, but didn't receive a response. His ministerial stint ended in 2019 after he lost the general elections. He also lost in 2024. CPR, his friends say, was always meant for great things in Delhi but he just took a longer route to Delhi than they expected...