Word: giri
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Only five days before the presidential election, she made her move. Apparently convinced that the Syndicate was plotting to dump her after the election and form a right-wing coalition, she repudiated Reddy's candidacy. Her personal choice, she indirectly advised her supporters, was Varahagiri Venkata Giri, 75, who had been acting President since Husain's death. It was an unprecedented breach of party discipline, and there was angry talk among Syndicate members that she ought to be suspended from the party...
...Syndicate had even greater cause for anger last week, when the presidential votes were counted. In a stunning upset, Giri won a narrow victory over Reddy. Left-wing Communist electors backed Giri almost unanimously. About 40% of Congress Party parliamentarians defied the Syndicate to vote for him. Giri polled 420,077 votes to Reddy...
...Punch. The chief irony of the power struggle was that it revolved around an office that is virtually powerless. As India's President, Giri will spend the next five years fulfilling largely ceremonial functions. Giri himself is not considered much of a mover and shaker these days, though in his youth he was a leading revolutionary. While he was studying law in Dublin, in fact, the British deported, him for his enthusiastic involvement in the Irish revolution. But that was long ago, and during the recent campaign his foes hinted that he was becoming senile. "Those who say that...
...powerlessness of his office, however, Giri does have one mighty club: he can dissolve Parliament. Only three times since India won its independence in 1947 has this power been used, and then mainly as a routine prologue to scheduled elections. Should Indira run into serious political difficulty, however, such a dissolution would leave her as caretaker Prime Minister for six months, and thus allow plenty of time to prepare for the required elections...
...Gandhi had thrown her prestige behind Acting President V. V. Giri, but the Syndicate vetoed his nomination. Then Indira switched her support to Food and Agriculture Minister Jagjivan Ram. The Syndicate, however, forced through the approval of Sanjiva Reddy, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) and a loyal Syndicate member. Indira was furious and decided to strike back directly at Finance Minister Desai, who had opposed her plan to nationalize the banks...