In July 2002, S S Bhandari, Governor of Gujarat on the recommendation of State Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, dissolved the Gujarat Assembly nine months before its term was due to end. The decision, attacked by main Opposition Congress and Left parties, was seen as an attempt to force the Election Commission to hold early elections in view of the Constitutional mandate prohibiting a more than six-month gap between two sessions of the House. The dissolution of the assembly had been publicly opposed by the Election Commission in wake of the then recent communal violence in the state.