By IANS
New Delhi : Hamid Ansari, who is most likely to be India's new vice president, is not just a diplomat and academic. He comes from a prominent political family with socialist leanings.
Non-controversial and low profile, Ansari, who is the unanimous choice of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Left parties for the August vice presidential election, points out that he is not that far away from politics as is being made out in sections of the media.
"I come from a family of freedom fighters. My father was in the forefront of the independence struggle. My uncle, Farid-ul-Haq, was secretary general of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and was elected to the second Lok Sabha," Ansari told IANS.
The PSP, which was in existence from 1952 to 1972, was founded when the Socialist Party merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party.
While the impressive range of assignments he has had in a career spanning over 45 years is well known, few are aware that he also happens to be the grandnephew of Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, who was president of the Indian National Congress in the 1927 Madras session.
Born in Kolkata on April 1, 1937 – though his family belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh – Ansari studied at the St. Xavier's in Kolkata and the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
He later became the AMU vice-chancellor after his innings in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).
Having joined the IFS in 1961, Ansari was India's envoy to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Australia. He was also New Delhi's permanent representative to the UN.
The fact that he was chosen as the UPA-Left candidate over other contenders such as academic Mushirul Hasan and Governor A.R. Kidwai is yet to sink in.
"Yes, I was kind of pleasantly surprised and I am still a mixed bag of emotions as I have never been in the thick of parliamentary politics," he said.
"But there are certain strong parallels in what I have done and what is required of a vice president."
A Padma Shri winner, Ansari has been a visiting professor at the Centre for West Asian and African Studies in New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and at the Academy for Third World Studies in Jamia Millia Islamia.
Before he was appointed as chairman of the National Commission for Minorities – which will be his last major assignment – in March last year, Ansari was co-chairman of the India-UK Round Table, a member of the National Security Advisory Board and convener (and later chairman) of the petroleum ministry's advisory committee on Oil Diplomacy for Energy Security.
"I think it as an honour to be chosen as vice presidential candidate," he said.