Prez Rule to continue in AP beyond April 30

Faced with the impossible task of convening Parliament to ratify the President’s Rule in Andhra Pradesh during election season, the Centre on Friday recommended dissolution of Andhra Pradesh Assembly enabling it to extend the rule beyond April 30.

The Union Cabinet met on Friday, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and recommended to the President the dissolution of the assembly and extension of the central rule, sources said.

Andhra was put under President's Rule on March 1 after N Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned as chief minister following Parliament's nod for bifurcation of the state to create Telangana. The government had to get it ratified by Parliament within two months. In the current scenario, with the Lok Sabha polls on, the Centre would not have managed to convene Parliament and get it ratified, thus leaving it in an unprecedented situation.

With this decision, the Centre will have two more months to get Parliament approval. During this time, the Assembly election in AP and the Lok Sabha polls would be over. As per the Supreme Court judgment in the S R Bommai case, the government has to seek Parliament approval within two months of the decision and then renew it every six months.