Instability in Maha for President's rule: Gehlot

The Maharashtra governor has brought instability in the state by recommending President's rule, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot claimed on Wednesday.

President's rule was imposed in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening amid a political impasse, after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in a report to the Centre stated that formation of a stable government was impossible in the current situation despite all his efforts, drawing flak from the non-BJP parties.

Top Congress leaders are holding discussions with regard to government formation in Maharashtra and time will tell what will happen there, Gehlot said.

"The governor has brought instability instead of stability by (recommending) President's rule in Maharashtra," he told reporters at the Congress office here.

Maharashtra is an important state and if there is a situation of a hung assembly, then it is the governor's duty to handle it and ensure the formation of a stable government, the chief minister said and termed Koshyari's recommendation for President's rule a "bad decision".

In the Maharashtra assembly polls held last month, the BJP won 105 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena (56), the Nationalist Congress Party (54) and the Congress (48) in the 288-member House.

Asked how the Congress will ally with the Shiv Sena with which it has ideological differences, Gehlot said his party's president Sonia Gandhi has held detailed discussions at a Congress Working Committee meeting.

"Such decisions are important decisions and are taken in view of the future. We are not hungry to be in power but the Congress wants a stable government," he said.

Targeting the BJP, Gehlot said, "Everyone is afraid in the rule of the BJP which is doing politics with arrogance."

"This is very unfortunate that such people are in power and are misleading the young generation people on the contribution of former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru in the freedom struggle, infrastructure development. He made an excellent foreign policy but unfortunately young generation is being misled through social media,” he said.