President's rule

In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions, the Union government can take direct control of the state machinery. Subsequently, executive authority is exercised through the centrally appointed governor, who has the authority to appoint other administrators to assist them. The administrators are usually nonpartisan retired civil servants not native to the state.
When a state government is functioning correctly, it is run by an elected Council of Ministers responsible to the state's legislative assembly. The council is led by the chief minister, who is the chief executive of the state; the Governor is only a constitutional head. However, during President's rule, the Council of Ministers is dissolved, later on vacating the office of Chief Minister. Furthermore, the Vidhan Sabha is either prorogued or dissolved, necessitating a new election.
Prior to 2019, the constitution of the state of Jammu and Kashmir had a similar system of Governor's rule, under its Section 92. The state's governor issued a proclamation, after obtaining the consent of the President of India allowing Governor's rule for up to six months after which President's rule under Article 356 of the Constitution of India could be imposed. After the revocation of Article 370, President's rule applies to Jammu and Kashmir under section 73 of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Following the 1994 landmark judgment in S. R. Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India restricted arbitrary impositions of President's rule.
Chhattisgarh and Telangana are the only states where the President's rule has never been imposed so far. Manipur is the state where it has been invoked the most frequently, currently under the rule since February 2025 for the eleventh time. The President's rule in force in Manipur since February was extended for a further six month with effect from 13 August 2025.

Imposition in state

In practice, President's rule has been imposed in a State under any one of the following different circumstances:

A state Assembly is unable to elect a leader as Chief Minister for a time prescribed by the Governor of that State, at the Will of Governor.
Breakdown of a coalition leading to the Chief Minister not having majority support in the Assembly; and the Chief minister fails/will definitely fail to prove otherwise, within a time prescribed by the Governor of that state.
Loss of majority in the Assembly due to a vote of no-confidence in the house.
Elections postponed for unavoidable reasons like war, epidemic, pandemic or natural disasters.
On the report of the Governor of the State that the State's constitutional machinery or legislature fails to abide by Constitutional norms.

If approved by both Houses, President's rule can continue for 6 months. It can be extended for a maximum of 3 years with the approval of the Parliament done every 6 months; however in extreme rare cases it can be extended repeatedly if the Election Commission of India recommends that elections are not possible. If the Lok Sabha is dissolved during this time, the rule is valid for 30 days from the first sitting of the new Lok Sabha provided that this continuance has already been approved by Rajya Sabha. The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 introduced a new provision to put a restraint on the power of Parliament to extend the President's rule in a state. According to this provision, the president's rule can only be extended over a year, under the following conditions:

There is already a national emergency throughout India, or in the whole or any part of the state.
The Election Commission certifies that elections cannot be conducted in the state.

President's rule can be revoked at any time by the President and does not need Parliament's approval.
Until the mid-1990s, President's rule was often imposed in states through the abuse of authority of Governors who were in collusion with the Union government. The Supreme Court of India in March 1994 established a precedent in S. R. Bommai v. Union of India, due to which such abuse has been drastically reduced.

Imposition in Union territories with a Legislative Assembly

Article 356 is not applicable to Union territories, so there are many ways by which President's rule can be imposed in different Union territories with a Legislative Assembly.

Jammu and Kashmir

Until the revocation of special status and bifurcation into two Union territories, President's rule applied after the application of Governor's rule under the erstwhile state's constitution for 6 months.
After the revocation and bifurcation, the reorganized union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is subject to the section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, which is used to impose President's rule as the Article 356 is not applicable to Union Territories. The provision states:

Delhi

In NCT of Delhi, President's rule is applied on the basis of Article 239AB of the Constitution of India which reads thus:

Puducherry

In the union territory of Puducherry, President's rule is applied on the basis of Article 51 of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963. Which thus reads

Misuse and criticism

Article 356 gives wide powers to the Union government to assert its authority over a state if civil unrest occurs and the state government does not have the means to end it. Though the purpose of this article is to give more powers to the Union government to preserve the unity and integrity of the nation, it has often been misused by the ruling parties at the centre, who used it as a pretext to dissolve state governments ruled by political opponents. Thus, it is seen by many as a threat to the federal state system. Since the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950, the Union government has used this 134 times to dissolve elected state governments by imposing President's rule.
The article was used for the first time in Punjab on 20 June 1951. It was next used in the state of Patiala and East Punjab States Union in 1953, and then in 1959 to dismiss the Communist Party of India–led government in Kerala in the aftermath of anti-communist protests. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was common for the Union government to dismiss state governments led by opposition parties. The Indira Gandhi regime and post-emergency Janata Party were noted for this practice. Indira Gandhi's government between 1966 and 1977 is known to have imposed President's rule 39 times in different states. Similarly, the Janata Party which came to power after the emergency issued President's rule in 9 states which were ruled by Congress.
The practice was limited only after the Supreme Court established strict guidelines for imposing President's rule in its ruling on the S. R. Bommai v. Union of India case in 1994. This landmark judgement has helped curtail the widespread abuse of Article 356. The judgement established strict guidelines for imposing President's rule. Subsequent pronouncements by the Supreme Court in Jharkhand and other states have further limited the scope for misuse of Article 356. Only since the early 2000s has the number of cases of imposition of President's rule has been drastically reduced.
Article 356 has always been the focal point of a wider debate of the federal structure of government in Indian polity. During debates in the Constituent Assembly of India regarding emergency provisions of the Constitution of India, B. R. Ambedkar argued for their inclusion under the assumption "that such articles will never be called into operation and that they would remain a dead letter". The Sarkaria Commission Report on Centre-State Relations 1983 has recommended that Article 356 must be used "very sparingly, in extreme cases, as a measure of last resort, when all the other alternatives fail to prevent or rectify a breakdown of Constitutional machinery in the state".

List of instances

State	Term	Date of imposition	Date of revocation	Duration	Reason to impose the President's rule
Andhra Pradesh	1				Breakdown of law & order due to Jai Andhra Agitation, in CM P. V. Narasimha Rao's tenure.
Andhra Pradesh	2				Political impasse following the resignation of CM Kiran Kumar Reddy and several other congress party legislators from the Government as well as the Party, in protest against Indian Parliament passing Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill to bifurcate united Andhra Pradesh and create a separate Telangana state. President's rule revoked from Telangana areas on 2 June 2014 and bifurcated Andhra Pradesh areas on 8 June 2014. President rule reimposed unlawfully by the President after the two months time limit without taking approval of the Parliament under Article 356.
Andhra State	1				Loss of majority.
Arunachal Pradesh	1				Loss of majority following defections in a fluid political environment during Janata party rule at the centre.
Arunachal Pradesh	2			26 days	21 Congress MLAs joined hands with 11 of the BJP and two Independents, making the contemporary government a minority. Supreme Court declared the imposition of president rule as ultra vires and reinstated the dismissed Congress led government in the state. In a landmark judgement, it found fault with the unconstitutional role played by the Governor by interfering in the activities of legislatures and speaker of the Vidhan Sabha
Assam	1				'Assam Agitation' against illegal foreign nationals staying in Assam started to take roots under the leadership of the All Assam Students' Union. The violence fuelled by United Liberation Front of Asom resulted in breakdown of law and order.
Assam	2				Congress government led by Anwara Taimur representing immigrant minorities collapsed following intensification of 'Assam Agitation' against illegal foreign national staying in Assam.
Assam	3				Congress government led by Kesab Gogoi representing ethnic Asom people collapsed following continued violence in Assam.
Assam	4				Government dismissed in spite of AGP CM Prafulla Mahanta enjoying majority support in Assembly. The dismissal was triggered apparently by the threat to internal security due to banned organisation ULFA's activities. During the president's rule, Operation Bajrang was launched to flush out ULFA militants.
Bihar	1				Loss of majority following defections in a fluid political environment.
Bihar	2				Loss of majority following defections in a fluid political environment due to split in ruling Congress party
Bihar	3				Loss of majority following defections in a fluid political environment.
Bihar	4				Government dismissed in spite of Jagannath Mishra enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Bihar	5				Government dismissed in spite of Ram Sundar Das enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Bihar	6				President's rule imposed for a brief period of one week to facilitate passage of vote on account by Parliament while awaiting the results of Assembly elections held during the Chief Ministership of Lalu Prasad.
Bihar	7				Breakdown of law and order, killings of 11 Dalits at Narayanpur. The Vajpayee Government, revoked the president's rule within 26 days since the coalition did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Bihar	8				Indecisive outcome of elections. In a landmark judgement, Supreme Court ruled that the imposition of the president's rule without giving the chance to the elected legislatures to form new government is unconstitutional and mala fide act by the president.
Delhi	1				Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister after failing to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly.
Goa	1				C.M. resigned consequent upon his disqualification by High Court – No other Government found viable.
Goa	2				Loss of majority and no alternate claimant to form next government.
Goa	3				Government dismissed after controversial confidence vote secured in the Assembly by CM Pratap Sinh Rane.
Goa, Daman and Diu	1				The Union Territory of Goa's Assembly was dissolved to conduct an opinion poll to determine whether Goa should be merged with Maharashtra.
Goa, Daman and Diu	2				Loss of majority following split in the ruling MGP Party.
Gujarat	1				Loss of majority following vertical split in Congress during 1969 presidential election.
Gujarat	2				Chimanbhai Patel led Congress government resigned due to Navnirman Movement Anti-Corruption protests. The protesters forced MLA's resignations, forcing dissolution of assembly.
Gujarat	3				"Non-Passage" of budget leading to collapse of government.
Gujarat	4				Government dismissed in spite of Babubhai J Patel enjoying majority support in the Assembly
Gujarat	5				Government dismissed following a controversial confidence vote. The Assembly was placed in suspended animation, which led to subsequent installation of Vaghela government, supported by Congress.
Haryana	1				Government dismissed in spite of having a tenuous majority.
Haryana	2				Government dismissed in spite of B D Gupta enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Haryana	3				Rebellion in the ruling party.
Himachal Pradesh	1				Government dismissed in spite of Thakur Ram Lal enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Himachal Pradesh	2				Government dismissed in the aftermath of the destruction of Babri Masjid-Ram Janmasthan in Uttar Pradesh.
Jammu and Kashmir	1				Sheikh Abdullah led National Conference government bowed out after being reduced to a minority following withdrawal of support by the Congress Party.
Jammu and Kashmir	2				Loss of majority.
Jammu and Kashmir	3				Increased Militancy, Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus & breakdown of law & order
Jammu and Kashmir	5				Loss of majority following collapse of coalition. CM Gulam Nabi Azad's decision to transfer land for Amarnath pilgrimage led to PDP pulling out of coalition Govt.
Jammu and Kashmir	6				Failure of Government formation after fractured verdict in Assembly elections. BJP & PDP reached an understanding to form an alliance to form Government in J&K.
Jammu and Kashmir	7				Death of chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Jammu and Kashmir	8				Resignation of the Chief Minister following loss of coalition partner. On 31 October 2019, Jammu and Kashmir state was split into two union territories, UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Ladakh.
Jammu and Kashmir	1				Imposed under section 73 of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019
Jharkhand	1				Political instability due to CM Shibu Soren's resignation following defeat in Tamar bypolls.
Jharkhand	2				Loss of majority.
Jharkhand	3				Loss of majority BJP's ruling coalition partner JMM withdrew its support to the government pushing it into a minority. Chief Minister Arjun Munda resigned and sought dissolution of the state Assembly.
Karnataka	1				Loss of majority.
Karnataka	2				Government dismissed in spite of Congress CM Devraj Urs enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Karnataka	3				Loss of majority of CM S. R. Bommai, followed by dissolution of Assembly. On an appeal by S. R. Bommai, in a landmark judgement delivered in 1994, the Indian Supreme Court laid out the procedure to be followed before dissolving an elected assembly. The historic ruling in this case reduced the scope for misuse of Article 356 by future central governments and governors.
Karnataka	4				Government of Veerendra Patil dismissed by Prime Minister V. P. Singh and state was placed under president's rule with the assembly placed in suspended animation until next chief Minister was elected.
Karnataka	5				Loss of majority.
Karnataka	6				Loss of majority.
Kerala	1				Government dismissed in spite of Communist CM EMS Namboodiripad enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Kerala	2				Loss of majority followed by indecisive outcome of elections.
Kerala	3				Loss of majority.
Kerala	4				Loss of majority.
Kerala	5				Loss of majority due to withdrawal of support by Congress and Kerala Congress.
Kerala	6				Loss of majority following defection of Lonappan Nambadan.
Madhya Pradesh	1				Government dismissed in spite of Shyama Charan Shukla enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Madhya Pradesh	2				Government dismissed in spite of Sundar Lal Patwa enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Madhya Pradesh	3				Govt. dismissed in the aftermath of Babri Masjid-Ram Janmasthan destruction in Uttar Pradesh.
Maharashtra	1				Govt. dismissed in spite of Sharad Pawar enjoying majority support in the Assembly.
Maharashtra	2				Govt. dismissed since Congress Separated from its allies NCP and Others.
Maharashtra	3			11 days	No party could form a government after a fractured election verdict and Shiv Sena broke the pre-poll alliance it had with the BJP. See also: 2019 Maharashtra political crisis.
Manipur	1				Short lived ministry collapsed following resignation of speaker, resulting in neither ruling nor opposition congress having a clear majority in the assembly. Assembly kept in suspended animation.
Manipur	2				Violent secessionist insurgency and statehood demands resulted in breakdown of law and order.
Manipur	3				President's rule was imposed even though the opposition had a "tenuous" majority and could have formed a government.
Manipur	4				Collapse of Government following defections.
Manipur	5				Discontent within Janata Party Government and corruption charges led to dismissal of government and dissolution of Assembly.
Manipur	6				Incumbent Government fell following defections. Governor did not permit an alternate government to be formed by People's Democratic Front on the basis of his assessment regarding stability of the proposed ministry.
Manipur	7				Incumbent coalition Government fell following defections. president's rule imposed keeping assembly in suspension.
Manipur	8				1000 persons died in Naga-Kuki clashes and continued violence.
Manipur	9				Loss of majority.
Manipur	10	13 February 2025	Ongoing		Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned following the 2023–2025 Manipur violence amidst a crisis of possible no-confidence motion. Assembly put under suspended animation.
Meghalaya	1				The Centre imposed president's rule in Meghalaya in the wake of a political crisis after the then Speaker PR Kyndiah suspended five MLAs, mostly independents, on grounds of defection.
Meghalaya	2				Government dismissed after controversial confidence vote secured in the Assembly by CM Donkupar Roy.
Mizoram	1				Mizo Union Ministry led by Chief Minister Chhunga resigned in May 1977, ostensibly to facilitate the progress of peace talks.
Mizoram	2				Chief Minister Sailo's refusal to grant undue favours caused dissension in his party which led to the fall of his government and imposition of president's rule.
Mizoram	3				Defections reduced the Government to minority.
Nagaland	1				Defections and counter defections led to imposition of president's rule.
Nagaland	2				The state was under a brief spell of central rule again after the Hokishe Sema-led Congress government was reduced to a minority. The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court in held to be invalid in 1994.
Nagaland	3				Fluid party position and deteriorating law and order situation.
Nagaland	4				Government dismissed after controversial confidence vote secured in the Assembly by CM Neiphiu Rio.
Odisha	1				Harekrishna Mahtab led Congress-Gantantra Parishad Minority Government resigned on 21 February 1961 due to differences in the Congress Party. President's rule was imposed on 25 February 1961.
Odisha	2				Break-up of coalition.
Odisha	3				Facing imminent collapse of government, incumbent chief minister recommended dissolution of assembly and fresh elections.
Odisha	4				Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy was forced out and assembly placed under suspended animation. A new Congress government was sworn in after revocation of president's rule.
Odisha	5				Government dismissed in spite of Binayak Acharya enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Odisha	6				Government dismissed in spite of Nilamani Routray enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Patiala and East Punjab States Union	1				President's rule was invoked in the erstwhile PEPSU State when the Akali Dal government, led by Gian Singh Rarewala, was dismissed.
Puducherry	1				Assembly was dissolved and president's rule imposed as opposition parties had a chance to form a government after the fall of the Congress government.
Puducherry	2				Assembly dissolved after fall of DMK government following decision of two ministers to join newly formed AIADMK.
Puducherry	3				Fall of coalition government of AIADMK, Congress following division of votes by Congress and DMK. The Assembly was dissolved.
Puducherry	4				Fall of government due to political instability.
Puducherry	5				Government dismissed following withdrawal of Congress from coalition government. In spite of incumbent chief minister asking for an opportunity to prove his majority on the floor of the house, the assembly was dissolved.
Puducherry	6				DMK Government dismissed in spite of having a majority in the Assembly.
Puducherry	7				Congress Government resigned due to loss of majority and no alternate claimant to form next government.
Punjab	1				Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru kept the Punjab Assembly in suspension for nine months and 28 days to help the state Congress government get its act together.
Punjab	2				State administration was taken over, ostensibly to facilitate bifurcation of Punjab state into two, Punjab and Haryana.
Punjab	3				Break-up of coalition.
Punjab	4				Following poor performance in March, 1971 Lok Sabha Elections, incumbent Chief Minister advised dissolving state assembly and holding fresh elections to state legislature.
Punjab	5				Government dismissed in spite of Giani Zail Singh enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Punjab	6				Government dismissed in spite of Parkash Singh Badal enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Punjab	7				Many Khalistani separatist groups announced the creation of Khalistan.
Punjab	8				Breakdown of law and order by several militant groups.
Rajasthan	1				Indecisive outcome of elections.
Rajasthan	2				Government dismissed in spite of Hari Dev Joshi enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Rajasthan	3				Government dismissed in spite of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Rajasthan	4				Government dismissed in spite of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Sikkim	1				Loss of majority following split in Kazi Lhendup Dorji led Janata Party government. The central government imposed president's rule and followed up with electoral reforms before ordering fresh elections.
Sikkim	2				Congress Government formed following induced collapse of Nar Bahadur Bhandari Sikkim Janata Parishad Government was dismissed as it did not enjoy a majority in the Assembly.
Tamil Nadu	1				The government headed by former chief minister M. Karunanidhi was dismissed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in spite enjoying majority in the legislative assembly, due to charges of corruption while the Sarkaria Commission was set up to probe the allegations.
Tamil Nadu	2				The government headed by former chief minister M. G. Ramachandran was dismissed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in spite enjoying majority in the legislative assembly.
Tamil Nadu	3				The government headed by former chief minister V. N. Janaki Ramachandran was dismissed by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi after controversial confidence vote secured by her in the legislative assembly.
Tamil Nadu	4				The government headed by former chief minister M. Karunanidhi was dismissed by former prime minister Chandra Shekhar on charges of supporting anti-national activities, in spite of the governor Surjit Singh Barnala's report and enjoying majority in the legislative assembly.
Travancore-Cochin	1				Loss of majority following split in Congress Party.
Tripura	1				In the backdrop of refugee influx due to Bangladesh Liberation War, split in the Congress and Communist agitation for Tripura to become a full-fledged state, president's rule was imposed. On 1 January 1972 Tripura became a State and assembly elections held subsequently.
Tripura	2				Collapse of short lived government in a fluid political environment.
Tripura	3				Elections postponed from 15 February 1993 to 3 April 1993 on account of deteriorating law and order situation. Caretaker CM resigns.
Uttar Pradesh	1				Loss of majority following withdrawal of support by Congress led by Indira Gandhi.
Uttar Pradesh	2				Charan Singh Ministry supported by Congress collapsed following split in Congress party.
Uttar Pradesh	3				Chief Minister resigned as a result of the 1973 Provincial Armed Constabulary revolt.
Uttar Pradesh	4				Congress Government of H N Bahuguna tendered resignation due to infighting within the party.
Uttar Pradesh	5				Government dismissed in spite of N D Tiwari enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Uttar Pradesh	6				Government dismissed in spite of Banarasi Das enjoying majority support in Assembly.
Uttar Pradesh	7				Government dismissed in the aftermath of the destruction of Babri Masjid-Ram Janmasthan.
Uttar Pradesh	8				Loss of majority following collapse of coalition followed by indecisive outcome of fresh elections.
Uttar Pradesh	9				Indecisive outcome of elections.
Uttarakhand	1				Collapse of CM Harish Rawat's ministry following a split in the state unit of Congress party. In the hearing of related case, Uttarakhand High Court declared the president's rule imposition by the President unconstitutional and restored the Harish Rawat's led government in the state.
Uttarakhand	2				Supreme Court of India held the stay on Uttarakhand High Court's verdict thus reinstating the president's rule in the state.
West Bengal	1				State placed under president's rule following collapse of two successive short lived coalition governments.
West Bengal	2				Collapse of United Front Coalition between Bangla Congress and CPI.
West Bengal	3				Collapse of Democratic Coalition following split in Bangla Congress.
West Bengal	4				Government dismissed in spite of Siddhartha Shankar Ray enjoying majority support in Assembly.