President's Rule In Maharashtra Step Towards Horse-Trading: Shiv Sena In Saamana

A day after Ram Nath Kovind signed off on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s recommendation and put Maharashtra under the President’s Rule, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said that it was a step in the direction of horse-trading. In its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party slammed the BJP in a stinging editorial. “Though horse-trading hasn't yet begun in Maharashtra, President Rule is a step in that direction. Governor was expected to show some independent thinking,” the party said in its sharp editorial. The party has already challenged the Governor’s decision in the top court. It should be noted that the Shiv Sena's plea challenging President's Rule in Maharashtra is likely to be mentioned in the Supreme Court at 10:30 AM. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal will represent the Shiv Sena in the apex court.

Lashing out at the BJP, the editorial said that the Governor’s decision was an insult of the voters of Maharashtra and their mandate in the recently concluded Assembly elections. On the alliance politics with the NCP and the Congress, the Shiv Sena questioned the BJP’s decisions in Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir, where the party formed coalition governments with people with pole-opposite ideologies. Echoing what Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday, the editorial said that the Shiv Sena is ready to be ‘Neelkantha’ to end instability in Maharashtra. ‘Neelkantha’ refers to the legend of ‘Devasur Sangram’ in the Hindu mythology, where Lord Shiva drank the ‘halahal’ (poison) to save the world after the manthan.

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On Tuesday, in his report, Governor Koshiyari had said that he was satisfied that governance of the state cannot be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and he was left with no alternative and is constrained to send a report on the provision of Article 356, the officials said.

As per a statement tweeted by Koshyari's office: "He is satisfied that the government cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution, (and therefore) has today submitted a report as contemplated by provision of Article 356 of the Constitution." Article 356, commonly known as President's rule, deals with 'failure of constitutional machinery in the state'.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday also recommended President's rule in Maharashtra where no political party has been able to form a government after the Assembly polls last month. Sources said the Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met in Delhi this afternoon to discuss the political impasse in Maharashtra and decided to recommend to the president to impose Central rule in the state.