The union cabinet Saturday evening recommended President's Rule in Maharashtra, official sources said.

 

 

 The development follows a recommendation to this effect by Maharashtra Governor C. V. Rao earlier in the day following the resignation of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Friday.

 

 Presided over by union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence, the special cabinet meeting's recommendation will be sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

 

 Chavan's resignation came a day after the ally Nationalist Congress Party Thursday ended its 15-year-old alliance with the Congress in the state and withdrew support to the Congress-led Democratic Front government, reducing it to a minority in the 288-member assembly. The divorce came barely three weeks ahead of the state assembly elections slated for Oct 15.

 

 The governor accepted Chavan's resignation Saturday and asked him to continue as caretaker chief minister till alternative arrangements could be made.

 

 The Congress-NCP alliance had ruled Maharashtra for three consecutive terms and also shared power at the centre for 10 years during the UPA regime before they parted ways over differences in the number of seats for each to contest.

 

 The split came hours after the 25-year-alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena had also broke up.

 

 Renowned for political stability, Maharashtra was administered centrally only once since the state's creation in 1960 – just between February-June 1980.