AGARTALA / AHMEDABAD: Chief Ministers of Tripura and Uttarakhand today joined the anti-NCTC chorus taking to 12 the number of opposing states even as their Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi accused UPA of "attacking" the country's federal structure.
With the Centre being accused of taking an "unilateral" decision, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the campaign against terror should be fought jointly and not be politicised. The Centre had no desire to infringe on the states' rights, she said.
Left Front-ruled Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the proposal to set up the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), saying the "unilateral" order would only create "misunderstanding".
Sarkar requested Singh that the NCTC order issued by the Home Ministry be withdrawn and a process of wider consultations initiated.
He said it was "unfortunate and surprising" that the NCTC order which dealt with security, an issue closely related to states, had been issued without proper consultations.
"Considering that 'Public order' and 'Police' is a state subject under the Constitution of India, this action of the MHA amounts to encroachment on the powers of the state."
The Tripura Chief Minister said the need of the hour was for the states and the Centre to cooperate but the NCTC order would only create misunderstanding.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri accused the Centre of "infringing" on federal rights of the states.
"Be it NCTC or any other issue, it is very sad that some of the important decisions are being taken by the Centre unilaterally," he said in Dehra Dun.
Stepping up his offensive on the NCTC issue, Modi said though the UPA government claimed that security was a "shared" responsibility of the Centre and states, it did not bother to consult states when it came to forming laws. .
"If you accept the responsibility of state governments then is it not your (Centre's) duty to consult them before forming laws?" Modi said in Ahmedabad.
Modi was reacting to Home Minister P Chidambaram's comment that security was a shared responsibility of Centre and the states.
"All these backdoor activities which are being done...it is not only one act but there are many other thought out actions, which are an attack on the country's federal structure," he added.
Chief Ministers of Orissa, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka have earlier opposed creation of NCTC which is expected to be operational on March 1.
Barring West Bengal where the opposition to NCTC is being led by key UPA ally Trinamool Congress, the other 11 states are ruled by non-UPA parties.