'BJP May Resort To Horse-Trading After Imposition Of President Rule In Maharashtra'

The state of Maharashtra on Tuesday was put under the President's rule on the recommendation of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after the second largest party Shiv Sena was denied any time extension to submit the requisite letters of support from the NCP and the Congress. Reacting to the incident, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh expressed apprehension that the BJP may indulge in horse-trading to form government in Maharashtra after imposing the President Rule there.

He expressed the apprehension, alleging that the decision to impose the President Rule in the state has been taken under duress from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

"Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had invited the third largest party, the National Congress Party, for the government formation in the state. The time limit for it was to end at 8.30 pm on Tuesday, but the governor made a recommendation for imposing the President Rule even before the expiry of that time limit," Singh told reporters in Lucknow.

"The governor had adopted the right procedure in the beginning and invited turn-by-turn BJP and Shiv Sena, which are the two largest parties, and had then invited the NCP for government formation," said Singh.

"But all of a sudden, a recommendation for imposing the President Rule was made," he added. "This sudden decision indicates that it had been taken under the pressure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah," he said, adding that "In the garb of the President Rule, BJP may indulge in horse-trading," he added.

(With PTI Inputs)