Rajnath to meet Prez on Arunachal issue

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will call on President Pranab Mukherjee this afternoon and is expected to apprise him about the decision of the Union Cabinet to recommend imposition of central rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

Official sources said Singh will discuss the rationale behind the decision of the Cabinet.

The Cabinet had sent the decision to the President for his nod yesterday, a move that has been criticised by the opposition Congress.

In a related development, Congress President Sonia Gandhi is likely to lead a delegation to the President requesting him not to give his assent to the Cabinet decision.

Arunachal Pradesh was rocked by a political crisis on December 16 last year as 21 rebel Congress MlAs joined hands with 11 of BJP and two independents to 'impeach' Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia at a  makeshift venue, in a move branded as "illegal and unconstitutional" by the Speaker.

The matter is at present also pending before the Supreme Court which has referred a batch of petitions on the Arunachal Pradesh crisis to a Constitution Bench.