KATHMANDU (AFP) - King Gyanendra announced in a televised address that he had dissolved the coalition government and taken charge of Nepal amid a bloody Maoist insurgency. "I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April and protect democracy, the sovereignty of the people and life and property," the king said on Tuesday. Several important political leaders including Nepal Communist Party United Marxist and Leninist, key partners in the former coalition government, were put under house arrest, party sources said. "I have exercised the rights given to the crown under the present constitution and dissolved the government for the larger interests of the people, country and protection of sovereignty" the king said in the course of his half-hour live broadcast. With a Maoist insurgency raging across the Himalayan state, security had been beefed up at key locations in Kathmandu ahead of the speech, witnesses said. Security forces were stationed in front of government establishments, post offices, telecommunications centres, the state bank and other government buildings. The streets were however quiet, correspondents said. The king accused political parties of "indulging in factional fighting." "In fact all the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country's democracy, national sovereignty, people's life and property and also protect the country's economic infrastructure," he told the nation. "Innocent children were found massacred and the government could not achieve any important and effective results. The crown traditionally is held responsible for the protection of national sovereignty, democracy and also people's right to live peacefully. "It is the duty of the crown to protect all these segments of society," he said. The king had summoned Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Monday night, a cabinet minister told AFP. "The king discussed three pertinent issues with Deuba including the current law and order situation and the proposed elections," a senior cabinet minister and a close confidant of Deuba told AFP. The king had repeatedly called on Deuba to set a date for elections despite threats by the Maoists to block the vote. Deuba's coalition partners were also against conducting a vote before peace negotiations resume with the rebels, who have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996. The king sacked Deuba in 2002 for failing to hold elections, but recalled the veteran last year as the Maoists pressed their bloody campaign. The insurgency has so far claimed more than 11,000 lives.