President’s rule imposed in Maharashtra; Cong-NCP in huddle over alliance with Sena

President's Rule was imposed in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening as the Governor turned down both Shiv Sena’s and NCP’s request for two days’ time to produce letters of support from other parties and MLAs for formation of government.

In a day of hectic political movements, senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and K.C. Venugopal landed in Mumbai to hold consultations with NCP chief Sharad Pawar about extending support to Shiv Sena.

After the meeting, the NCP and Congress leaders held a joint press conference and said that Shiv Sena had asked for their support just a day before and now the two parties (NCP-Congress) are discussing among themselves the “various aspects” of the situation before taking “a big decision”. Ahmed Patel said that the two parties would go to Shiv Sena only later to finalise the matter.

In a separate presser, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that it was natural for parties of “different ideologies” to take their own time to discuss and sort out various things before coming together and forge a new alliance.

Thackeray said the three parties will work out a formula for formation of a government. He said the Sena had contacted the Congress and the NCP for first time on November 11 and his party also needs a clarity on the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) just like them

Also, the Shiv Sena moved the Supreme Court against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s denial of 48 hours’ time sought by it. The SC registry, however, rejected Sena’s plea for an urgent hearing in the matter. The Sena’s lawyer said the party will also move a second petition in SC against the imposition of President’s Rule in the state.

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too condemned the Raj Bhavan’s decision to recommend President’s Rule at a time when both Shiv Sena and NCP had expressed willingness and intent to form the government.

Accusing the Governor of committing a "grave travesty" and making a "mockery of the Constitutional process”, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala drew the attention towards Supreme Court guidelines in such circumstances.

He said a few “grave violations of the Constitutional scheme”, as expressed by the apex court in the S.R. Bommai judgment, stand out.

"In case the Governor called individual parties, why did he not call Congress party? And above all, why the completely arbitrary allotment of time? 48 hours to BJP, 24 hours to Sena and not even 24 hours to NCP, before the Presidents Rule. This is unashamedly dishonest and politically motivated," Surjewala said.

As per SC directions in the S.R. Bommai vs Union of India (1994) case, it is not justified to proclaim President’s Rule in a situation wWhere the Governor makes his own assessment of the support of a ministry in the Legislative Assembly and recommends imposition of President’s Rule without allowing the ministry to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly.

For more details about SC’s judgment, read here: https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/imposition-of-presidents-rule-flies-in-face-of-sc-guidelines-in-bommai-case

The Union Cabinet had earlier in the day recommended President's rule in the state after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari submitted a report in this regard.

In his report, the Governor said a situation has arisen that a stable government is not possible even after 15 days of election results being declared, according to officials.

He said that all efforts have been made to form a government but he saw no probability that a stable government could be formed.

The Governor said that he is convinced that governance of the state cannot be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and he is left with no alternative and is constrained to send a report on the provision of Article 356, the officials said.

(With PTI inputs)