President's rule imposed in poll-bound Maharashtra

New Delhi: 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. [caption id=“attachment_1733929” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan had resigned on Friday. Agencies[/caption] 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 US. With NCP withdrawing support to the government, Chavan had resigned on Friday. His resignation was accepted by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Saturday. 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. PTI