NEW DELHI: When Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa lands in New Delhi on April 16 morning for the internal security meeting, there will be much anticipation over how she and her counterparts in Opposition-ruled states respond to the Centre’s truce call. At stake is the much-opposed National Counter Terrorism Centre.
Though a separate meeting on NCTC is being held on May 5, primarily on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s demands, the issue has not been removed from the agenda of Monday’s internal security meet, which the PM is expected to inaugurate.
Incidentally, ally Banerjee who had joined hands with CMs of Opposition-ruled states, particularly TN and Orissa, forcing the government to tweak its original NCTC template, will be skipping Monday’s meeting.
Nevertheless, the government is planning to sound the other CMs out on changes it has proposed in order to make NCTC more acceptable to the States. The States have been up in arms over the Centre’s move to usurp their powers in the name of setting up an anti-terror body controlled by the Home Ministry, a move which gives it free access into their territory.
In view of the strong opposition, the Centre is now proposing some changes. It is ready to keep the states in the loop on every move of the NCTC. In other words, the government is prepared to follow the standard operating procedure.