After the death of President Zakir Hussain, the post of the President of India fell vacant. The ‘syndicate’ managed to nominate the then speaker of the Lok Sabha, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, as the official Congress candidate for the Presidential elections. Indira Gandhi retaliated by encouraging the then Vice-President, V. V. Giri, to file his nomination as an independent candidate. The then Congress President S. Nijalingappa issued a ‘whip’ asking all the Congress MPs and MLAs to vote in favor of Sanjeeva Reddy, the official candidate of the party. Supporters of Indira Gandhi requisitioned a special meeting of the AICC but this was refused. After silently supporting V. V. Giri, the Prime Minister openly called for a ‘conscience vote’, that meant that MPs and MLAs from the Congress should be free to vote the way they want. The election ultimately resulted in the victory of V. V. Giri, the independent candidate, and the defeat of Sanjeeva Reddy, the official Congress candidate.