Maharashtra has been placed under President's rule. President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the cabinet decision to impose Central rule in the state following the deadlock over government formation even after almost three weeks since the election results came out.
The President took the decision following the recommendation of state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. On Monday, Governor Koshyari invited the third largest party in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), to express willingness to form the government. NCP has 54 MLAs and a party or alliance has to have 145 MLAs in the assembly to prove majority.
Earlier, the Shiv Sena failed to stake claim to form the government with 56 MLAs and BJP refused saying they do not have the required numbers as they have only 105 MLAs in the 288-member assembly.
Now, after a Cabinet recommendation, President has approved imposing Central rule in the state. The Union Cabinet recommended President's rule in the state even as top leaders from the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena held hectic discussions and consultations in a bid to gather enough numbers to form a government in the state. The impasse, however, was nowhere near an end.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the cabinet in the afternoon to discuss the stalemate in the state where no party has been able to form government after the assembly polls last month. The cabinet decided to recommend Central rule in the state, sources said.
The Governor who gave the Nationalist Congress Party time till 8.30 pm on Tuesday to express its "willingness and ability" to form government and time being of the essence, submitted a report to the President recommending Central rule in the state. Elections were held in the state on October 21 and results were announced on October 24 when the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance were given a clear mandate with 161 seats, which was way past the majority mark. However, the two parties couldn't agree to each other's demands and failed to form the government even after two weeks.
