Ansari takes oath for second term
New Delhi, Aug 11, 2012, DHNS:
Hamid Ansari became the second Vice-President of India to take oath of office for second consecutive terms here on Saturday.
Ansari, a former diplomat, followed Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan who served two successive terms as Vice-President.
The oath-taking ceremony administered by President Pranab Mulkherjee at the Rshtrapati Bhavan was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, several Union ministers and leaders of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and other political parties.
Before taking oath for the second highest constitutional office in the country, Ansari paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat.
Ansari, 75, nominee of UPA and friendly parties such as the SP and BSP, defeated his rival and BJP leader Jaswant Singh comfortably in the polls held on August 7.
Of the total 736 votes, Ansari secured 490 votes while Singh managed to get 238.
A former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Ansari was also the vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and chairman of the National Minorities Commission.
