By IANS
New Delhi : Intellectual and former diplomat Mohammad Hamid Ansari will take oath as India’s new vice president at a simple ceremony at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan Saturday evening.
Ansari, who has stepped down as the chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, will succeed Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who lost last month’s presidential election to Pratibha Patil.
Ansari, 70, a candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left, bagged 455 of the 762 votes polled in a triangular contest Friday.
He won by a margin of 233 votes against National Democratic Alliance’s Najma Heptulla, pushing Rasheed Masood of the United National Progressive Alliance to a distant third spot.
Ansari will be sworn in by President Patil. The function will also be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, cabinet ministers and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi among others.
The vice president will also be the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.