Having been elected with a convincing margin in the Vice-Presidential election on Friday, scholar-diplomat-writer Mohammad Hamid Ansari is considered an intellectual with Left-of-the-Centre leanings.

A Padma Shri awardee, Ansari will be the 13th Vice- President of the country. He brings with him a wealth of experience having handled an impressive range of assignments in a career spanning over 45 years.

Besides undertaking his responsibility as Vice-President, the 70-year-old will have to straight away conduct business in Rajya Sabha as Chairman of the House. His diplomatic skills, however, may come to his aid in his capacity as the Chairman.

Second diplomat
Ansari will be the second diplomat after K R Narayanan to occupy the post of Vice-President. Known for his intellectual honesty, efficiency and commitment, Ansari is a  grand-nephew of Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, who was president of the Indian National Congress in 1927.

Born in Calcutta on April 1,  1937, Ansari has a deep interest in West Asian affairs and often took positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iran and Iraq.

He studied at Shimla’s St Edwards High School and St Xavier’s College in Kolkata and Aligarh Muslim University.
Joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1961, Ansari has served as Indian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

He was also the Indian High Commissioner to Australia and New Delhi’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Awarded Padma Shri in 1984, Ansari, who has written extensively on international affairs, was the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University before he was appointed chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) in March this year.

His family belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh.