Jawaharlal Nehru died on May 27, 1964. The Congress had to choose a new prime minister. The party president, K. Kamaraj, consulted the Congress members of Parliament and the chief ministers, and then announced the choice, Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Morarji Desai had wanted the post and opposed the method. He accepted the outcome. Shastri was sworn in on June 9, 1964. The Asian Age later wrote that Kamaraj “evolved a novel concept of consensus.”