(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Ansari will be only the second person after Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, India's first vice-president, to be elected to two consecutive terms in office.
The vice-president was on UPA's shortlist and ran head-to-head with Pranab Mukharjee until he was tripped by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Trinamool boss Mamata Banerjee. However, he featured on the top of the probables' list for vice-president. Rajasthan governor Margaret Alva, former Maharashtra governor S C Jamir and Union minister for renewable energy Farooq Abdullah were also in the race.
Congress started consulting allies and other supporters after Singh secured Ansari's consent.
As in the case of the presidential election, UPA's nominee appears to be a shoo-in, with even the BJP-led opposition indifferent about contesting an election whose outcome is known.
BJP has not shown its hand yet, its best hope is that Mamata and Mulayam may inject an element of excitement.
Left, which endorsed Ansari for the post five years ago, has promised its support again. So has the BSP. Mamata, who opposed Ansari as president because of his proximity to Left, remains an imponderable this time too. However, Congress circles are optimistic that Mulayam, who opposed Ansari in the race for Rashtrapati Bhavan, may support him for vice-president if only because opposing a Muslim from UP a second time may not go down well with his secular constituency.
In fact, with indications encouraging hopes of support for Ansari also from unlikely quarters- Telangana Rashtra Samiti, TDP and even Jagan Mohan Reddy, Congress managers expect support of 60% of the electoral college which consists of all elected members of Parliament.
Congress is hoping to garner the support of the around 460 MPs. While not spelling out UPA's exact numbers, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal said, "No names have been formalized but UPA's candidate will win comfortably."
There was no official word but significantly, a report quoting Janata Dal (S) leader H D Deve Gowda in which he said the PM sought support for Ansari, was not contested either by the government or Congress.
"Let there be a formal announcement. Talks happen. What transpired between the Prime Minister and some others can be answered by only them. As far as the party is concerned, no final decision has been taken. There is a consultation process underway. When a decision is taken, it will be communicated to you," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.
The main Opposition BJP does not have a candidate of its own in mind and its key ally Janata Dal (U) said the vice president's election would be discussed by the alliance. "The matter will taken up by the NDA and a decision will be arrived at soon," said JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav who is also the alliance convenor.
The Congress leadership hopes the successful completion of the vice-president's election will set the stage for some energetic action in government with a set of reform-oriented measures and legislative action intended to revive the economy and shake off a persistent impression that the Manmohan Singh government is in the grip of a policy paralysis.
Edited By Cen Fox Post Team
