25 Facts About Mohammad Hamid Ansari

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is an Indian politician and retired Indian Foreign Service officer who was the 12th vice president of India from 2007 to 2017.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations between 1993 and 1995.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari was appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from 2000 to 2002.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari was elected as the Vice-President of India on 10 August 2007 and took office on 11 August 2007.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari was reelected on 7 August 2012 and was sworn-in by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari's tenure is tied with S Radhakrishnan, for the longest Vice Presidential tenure in Indian history.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the grand-nephew of former Indian National Congress president and freedom fighter Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the second cousin to 3 Uttar Pradesh politicians, namely Afzal Ansari, Sibaghatullah Ansari and the mafia-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is married to Salma Ansari, fathering two sons and one daughter.

Mohan Jashanmal, the Chairman of Indian Business and Professionals Group said that "Mohammad Hamid Ansari was instrumental to get land for the Indian School from His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan".

Mohammad Hamid Ansari has served as the Indian ambassador to Australia, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari wrote that appointing Ansari for this post at a time when "Pakistan went all out to bring Kashmir to the centre of international attention after the end of the Cold War" showed India's secular credentials.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari became the chairman of India's National Commission for Minorities on 6 March 2006.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari resigned as NCM chairman soon after his nomination for the post of India's vice-president.

On 20 July 2007, Mohammad Hamid Ansari was named by the UPA-Left, the ruling coalition in India, as its candidate for the post of Vice-President for the upcoming election.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari refused to say more when asked about his prospects in the August 2007 Vice-Presidential election.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari secured 455 votes, and won the election by a margin of 233 votes against his nearest rival Najma Heptullah.

Hamid Ansari was re-elected for the second term on 7 August 2012, defeating the NDA's nominee Jaswant Singh by a margin of 252 votes.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari was the first person to be re-elected as Indian Vice President after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1957.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the longest serving vice president of India.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is a West Asia scholar and has written on the Palestinian issue and taken positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari questioned India's vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's nuclear programme where India voted against Iran.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari said that though the Indian Government claimed to have acted on "its own judgement," this was not borne out by facts.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari was the chairman of a working group on "Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State," established by the Second Round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on Jammu and Kashmir in 2006.