Hamid Ansari gets second term as VP

Hamid Ansari on Tuesday became only the second person in independent India’s history to be re-elected the vice-president. Dr S Radhakrishnan, the country’s first vice-president who went on to be the second president, served the office from 1952 to 1962.

Hamid Ansari on Tuesday became only the second person in independent India’s history to be re-elected the vice-president. Dr S Radhakrishnan, the country’s first vice-president who went on to be the second president, served the office from 1952 to 1962.

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With the might of the ruling coalition behind him, Ansari defeated NDA’s Jaswant Singh by a margin of 490-238 votes.

The opposition alliance claimed that Singh, 74, polled 14 votes more than its initial calculation. The ruling alliance failed to reach the expected 500 mark, which it attributed to invalid votes and absent MPs.

The vice-president is elected by the members of an electoral college comprising members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. On Tuesday, of the 787 members, 736 cast the vote.

Eight votes were found to be invalid. The Biju Janata Dal, Telugu Desam Party and Revolutionary Socialist Party abstained.

A former career-diplomat, 75-year-old Ansari's name did the rounds as UPA's possible presidential candidate but the ruling coalition chose Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected the country's 13th president.

Ansari is likely to be sworn in on August 11.