NEW DELHI: Mohammad Hamid Ansari has been re-elected vice-president of India for the second successive term. Born in 1937, Ansari is only the second vice-president in Indian history to be re-elected, after S Radhakrishnan. In this, he provides the unique opportunity, of having his legacy looked at even as he continues in his post.

While a lot has been written about his career as a diplomat, in West Asia and Australia (he received a Padma Shri in 1984), his career as the presiding officer of the Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, is the one that bears close scrutiny. Ansari, who had been variously engaged after his retirement from the Indian Foreign Service as a writer on West Asian affairs, member of the National Security Advisory Board and as the chairman of the National Commission on Minorities, had been known to have open disagreements with stated government positions, especially on West Asia and Iran.

Around the time that he was nominated for his first term as vice-president, with the support of Left parties, he delivered a stinging criticism of the government's vote against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). "I believe India acted with great haste on Iran," he said in an interview just days after being nominated.

At the start of his tenure, he replaced former president APJ Abdul Kalam as a favoured speaker at various events. The erudite diplomat filled the role with ease. As presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha, it was expected that he would bring some innovation to the role. This he did to a certain extent. He faced raucous scenes during the debate on reservation of seats for women in Parliament with calm and saw the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, although marshals had to be called in to remove protesting members before the vote.

He tried and failed to shift question hour to a later time. He found that members were scarce after shifting question hour to the evening session. It was, however, his adjournment of the Rajya Sabha, on December 29, while the debate on the Lokpal Bill was on, and which the government could see clearly to losing on the floor of the House, which has defined his tenure.

On December 29, after an extended winter session of Parliament to consider and pass the Lokpal bill, the Rajya Sabha was abruptly adjourned late in the night. The ostensible reason given was that the opposition had moved so many amendments to the bill that it would be difficult for the government to respond to, but government managers had been clear since late that evening that the numbers position of the government was dodgy at best. Since the session had been called only for December 27-29, the House was adjourned by Ansari before the clock struck midnight. His defenders say as presiding officer he had no choice. "It was the government's decision on the tenure of the House, notified by the President. The presiding officer has no choice beyond running the House smoothly within the stipulated period," said a source. He has stayed silent on the matter, this time giving no interviews before the election, telling aides, "vice-president must be above such things."

Whatever the reasoning, the move created bitterness between Ansari and the Opposition, which had, till then, been suitably disposed towards him. As his name started doing the rounds as a potential candidate for the post of president, opposition parties made it clear that they had objections to his name. As he takes on his second tenure as vice-president, he will be hoping that he would create some other memorable moments in Parliament and outside, more in keeping with his erudite reputation.