Jaya, Modi join the camp

Opposition to the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) gathered strength on Friday with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and her Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi joiningMamata Banerjee to express their disagreement on the Centre’s move.

In her letter to the prime minister, Jayalalitha said provisions of the Home Ministry’s order on NCTC should be reviewed in the light of “reservations” expressed by chief ministers.

Raising concerns over provisions in the order to transfer power resting with Joint Secretary (Home) at the Centre and with the State Home Secretary to the IB, Jayalalitha said the move “to set up Inter-State Intelligence teams by the NCTC is tantamount to usurping the legitimate rights of the States.” In his letter to Dr Manmohan Singh, NarendraModi said the mechanism is taking away decision making authority from the states at a time when they are fighting serious internal threat to their authority such as Naxalism and home-grown terror.  Demanding immediate withdrawal of the order to establish NCTC, Modi said the Centre should consult the states before taking such decisions.