Union Cabinet recommends President's Rule in Delhi

The Union Cabinet has recommended President's Rule in Delhi and suspended animation of the Delhi State Assembly.

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has sent his report to President Pranab Mukherjee in which he has recommended non-dissolution of the Delhi Assembly and called for the holding of fresh elections.

He has rejected outgoing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's recommendation to dissolve the state assembly, which was made through a letter on Saturday evening.

As Delhi enjoys a special status of being a Union Territory, the Lieutenant Governor, who is Delhi's constitutional head, is not bound to act as per the outgoing chief minister's advice.

The Cabinet decision will come into effect after promulgation of a notification by President Pranab Mukherjee, which has to be then endorsed by Parliament through a resolution under Article 356 of the Constitution.

The Delhi elections of December 4, 2013, did not give any political party an absolute majority, and Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party formed a minority government with outside support from the Congress Party.

Kejriwal resigned from the post of chief minister on Friday after his 49-day-old government failed to table its Jan Lokpal Bill in the state assembly. The state government could only win 27 votes as opposed to the Congress-BJP combine which emerged with 42 votes.

The AAP has been asked to run a caretaker government for the next few days as an interim arrangement.

Kejriwal has maintained that both the BJP and the Congress have joined hands to get rid of his Aam Aadmi Party Government in Delhi after it filed a case against industrialist Mukesh Ambani in connection with a natural gas pricing case.