Union Cabinet recommends President's Rule in Delhi

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today recommended President's Rule in Delhi and suspended animation of the Assembly.

In his report to the President earlier today, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung refused to dissolve the Delhi Assembly and call fresh elections, thereby rejecting outgoing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's recommendation in his resignation letter last 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 in December last year threw a split verdict with no political party getting the absolute majority. The Aam Aadmi Party led by Mr Kejriwal formed the minority government with outside support from the Congress. (Nightmare is over: Arun Jaitley on Arvind Kejriwal's resignation)

Mr Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister yesterday after his 49-day government fell over the Delhi Assembly stalling the tabling of the anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill with a 42-27 vote. AAP has been asked to run a caretaker government for the next few days as an interim arrangement.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV today, Mr Kejriwal alleged that the BJP and Congress joined hands to get rid of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi after a case was filed against industrialist Mukesh Ambani in a natural gas case.