FILE photo of Rashtrapati Bhavan
Delhi came under a spell of President's Rule today, some 60 hours after
Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the chief minister's post after the BJP and the Congress foiled his plans to introduce the anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly.
Acting on the advice of the Union Cabinet, President Pranab Mukherjee this morning approved a resolution imposing central rule in the capital.
Mr Kejriwal, in an interview to NDTV, had vowed that he would not continue on his post "for a minute longer" if his government failed to get the Bill passed in the Delhi assembly. He stuck to his promise by tendering his resignation soon after the opposition ganged up to stall his government's plans.
While offering his resignation, Mr Kejriwal had recommended that the assembly be dissolved, and fresh elections be held. In his report to the Centre, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, however, made out a strong case for placing the assembly under a spell of suspended animation.
(Read)With Delhi coming under President's rule, the BJP, which is the largest party in the assembly, gets another opportunity to stitch together an alliance, and stake its claim to form the next government. The BJP and its ally Shiromani Akali Dal together have a strength of 32 in the 70-member assembly.
The party, however, has indicated that it would stay away from the government-formation exercise, and has favoured fresh round of polls.
There are 27 AAP lawmakers in the Delhi assembly, while the Congress tally stands at 8.