Maharashtra was placed under President's Rule on Tuesday after a report from Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to the centre that none of the three parties he had invited since Saturday - BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - could produce enough numbers to stake claim to power even 20 days after the October 24 state election results. The Governor sent the report after the NCP spoke to him at 11 am on Tuesday, hours before its 8.30 pm deadline, and asked for more time. Opposition parties criticized the move, accusing the governor of doing the BJP's bidding without exhausting all his constitutional options. President's Rule didn't stop allies Congress and NCP from holding discussions on whether to support the Shiv Sena in forming government.
