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A fine man for the job

The political equations in the vice-presidential election held no variables. Mohammad Hamid Ansari — the candidate of the United Progressive Alliance and the Left parties, with intellectual credentials widely recognised to be impeccable — was in the comfort zone from start to finish. His win in a canter with 455 first preference votes, against 222 and 75 polled by his two opponents, was a mere formality. Najma Heptullah, the nominee of the National Democratic A lliance, and Rasheed Masood, the choice of the United National Progressive Alliance, took the field to make a political point. Ms. Heptullah, a former Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha who counts Congress MPs among her friends, was banking on nothing more than self-inflated hope when she sought support across party lines. During the presidential election campaign, the NDA pulled out all the stops to discredit the UPA-Left candidate, Pratibha Patil. In the contest for the vice-presidency, it had no case to make while appealing for votes from across the political divide. However, the election did serve a purpose for the NDA: it provided an opportunity to the Shiv Sena, which had voted for the Maharashtrian Pratibha Patil in the presidential election, to revive ties with the senior partner of the alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Masood did not bother to make even the half-hearted effort Ms. Heptullah made; he was content to remain a rallying point for the constituents of the newly formed UNPA. After their backroom manoeuvres to make Abdul Kalam run for a second term failed, and the presidential election exposed the cracks in the alliance, UNPA leaders wanted little from the vice-presidential election. Their efforts fell short of even a token fight.

With the country spared a second mudslinging campaign, it can now get on with its ordinary business. One hopes its parliamentary affairs will be conducted with more purpose and decorum than we have been used to in recent times. The substantive job of the Vice-President, aside from backing up the head of state, is to chair the Rajya Sabha — with amiability, objectivity, even-handedness, and, whenever required, a firm hand. The man who will be sworn in as Vice-President on Saturday is known for his professional and personal integrity and for his reasoned and principled opinions, especially on West Asia but also on what it takes to maintain national unity and social harmony. In conducting the proceedings of the Upper House, Mr. Ansari has a sporting chance of winning cooperation from the opposition benches as well. A one-horse race it might have been but the rancour-free campaign has laid a basis for this, certainly for the initial period.

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