Vice-President Hamid Ansari won a second term as he defeated senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh in the election held here on Tuesday. He is the second person after the first Vice President S. Radhakrishnan to get a second term in the chair.
Ansari bagged 490 votes, 13 votes less than what he was supposed to get. His opponent managed 238 votes, four more than the tally of the National Democratic Alliance and the AIADMK. Eight votes were invalid. The BJD, RSP and the TDP had abstained. The halfway mark was thus brought down to 377 from 396.
The UPA and its supporters the SP, BSP and the RJD had decided to support Ansari along with the CPI (M), CPI and the Forward Bloc.
Five years ago, it was the CPI (M) which had suggested his name for the post of Vice-President. He was then the Chairman of the National Commission of Minorities.
The Congress had also considered his name for the post of President, along with Pranab Mukherjee.