AFP, New Delhi

Former diplomat Mohammed Hamid Ansari was elected India’s vice president on Friday, easily defeating his opposition-backed rival, a senior official said.
Ansari, nominated by India’s ruling Congress party, won 455 votes, more than double the number cast for Najma Heptullah, the Hindu nationalist BJP party candidate, in elections in New Delhi, the official said.
The 70-year-old Ansari was elected by India’s electoral college which comprises 788 MPs from the national parliament’s two houses. [Read more]