Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan resigns

MUMBAI, Sept 26: Maharashtra Chief Prithviraj Chavan resigned today, a day after NCP broke its 15-year-old alliance with Congress in the state, reducing his government to a minority.
Chavan drove down to Raj Bhavan this evening and submitted the resignation of his government to Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, official sources said.
It was not immediately known if he has been asked to continue in a caretaker capacity or the state will be brought under a brief spell of President’s rule before the Assembly elections are held next month and a new government sworn in.
Chavan had called on the Governor earlier in the day too and apprised him of the political developments.
The NCP had yesterday called off its alliance with Congress accuses Chavan of neglecting it and stalling talks over seat-sharing.
NCP’s insistence on the two allies contesting an equal number of the state’s 288 Assembly seats and the demand for rotational chief minister for half of the government’s five-year term if the alliance retained power were the sticking points during the seat-sharing talks which eventually led to the collapse of the alliance. (Agencies)