 In 1969, following President Zakir Hussain's death, the Congress party nominated Reddy, a member of its Syndicate faction, as candidate for president although Prime Minister Indira Gandhi opposed him.She was forced to accept Reddy as the Congress party's official candidate and feared his election would allow the Syndicate to expel her from office.She asked Congress legislators to "vote according to their conscience" rather than blindly toe the Party line, in effect giving a call to support the independent candidate V V Giri.