President’s rule was imposed on Sunday in poll-bound Maharashtra after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan resigned following the break-up of 15-year-old Congress-NCP alliance in the state.
President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation for imposition of central rule in Maharashtra, a day after the Union Cabinet recommended clamping of President’s rule in the state, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.
The brief Cabinet meeting on Saturday was chaired by Home minister Rajnath Singh in the absence of prime minister Narendra Modi, who is away in the United States.
With NCP withdrawing support to the government, Chavan had resigned on Friday. His resignation was accepted by Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao yesterday.
Since assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled on 15 October, the governor, in his report to the Centre, had recommended imposition of President’s rule in the state.
NCP had on Thursday called off its alliance with Congress accusing Chavan of neglecting it and stalling talks over seat-sharing.
NCP’s insistence on the two parties contesting an equal number of the state’s 288 assembly seats and the demand for rotational chief ministership for half of the government’s five-year term if the alliance retained power were the sticking points during the seat-sharing talks which eventually led to the collapse of the alliance.
Guv asked Sena-BJP to form govt
Before imposition of President’s rule in Maharashtra, governor Vidyasagar Rao had written separate letters to Shiv Sena and BJP seeking to know if they could form an interim government in the state after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan resigned on Friday.
The 25-year-old BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had split on 25 September over the issue of seat sharing for 15 October assembly elections.
Chavan had resigned after his government was reduced to a minority as the ally NCP withdrew the support.
‘After the withdrawal of support by NCP to the Democratic Front government on 25th September, the government has become a minority government,’ the letter written by the governor to Sena leader Subhash Desai read. ‘In this regard I am exploring other avenues of government formation and hence I would like to know from you as leader of Legislative Party Shiv Sena whether your party is able and willing to form the government,’ the letter added.