President's rule in Maha a 'scripted act', alleges Sena

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Thursday alleged that imposition of President’s rule in Maharashtra was a “scripted act” and took a jibe at the governor, saying he has now given parties six months to form the government.

It also said that former state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is shedding “crocodile tears” over the imposition of President’s rule as power is still indirectly in the hands of the BJP.

Criticising the governor for giving the Shiv Sena just 24 hours to stake claim and refusing it additional time to muster numbers, an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said, “It looked like some invisible power was controlling this game and decisions were taken accordingly.”

President’s rule was imposed in the state on Tuesday after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari sent a report to the Centre, stating that formation of a stable government was impossible in the current situation despite all his efforts.

The Sena alleged that protocol was not followed when it went to the Raj Bhawan to seek more time to stake claim for government formation.

The governor waited for the term of the 13th Assembly to end. Had he initiated the government formation procedure earlier, his action of recommending President’s rule would have looked “ethically correct”, the Marathi publication said.

“The governor is so kind that he has now given us six months,” it said in sarcastic remarks.

“In fact, the imposition of President’s rule was a scripted act. It was already decided,” the Sena alleged.

The governor was earlier an RSS worker and served as chief minister of Uttarakhand. But Maharashtra is a grand state in terms of geography and history, it noted.