The Union government on Thursday recommended imposition of central rule in Jharkhand. The step comes nine days after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s withdrawal of support forced BJP’s chief minister Arjun Munda to quit. The home ministry is expected to appoint ex-home secretary Madhukar Gupta and former CRPF chief K Vijay Kumar as advisers to the governor soon after Rashtrapati Bhavan issues the formal presidential proclamation. Kumar’s appointment would ensure that political uncertainty does not derail anti-naxal operations in the state where 23 of the 24 districts are affected by naxalism.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met this morning to take a call on the report of Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed. He had recently recommended President’s Rule while keeping the 82-member state assembly in suspended animation.

Even as the JMM decided to pull out of the coalition government throwing Jharkhand in yet another round of political instability, the Congress with 13 MLAs decided not to throw its hat in the ring. Party sources claimed that the Congress brass wanted to avoid any alliance with JMM due to the latter's 'tainted' image.

This would be the third tenure of President's Rule in Jharkhand since its creation in 2000. The BJP, meanwhile, demanded an early election in the state. "We are in favour of elections in Jharkhand. Government should declare elections first," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said here.