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The deadlock over formation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) continued on Saturday with chief ministers of several states strongly opposing the provisions in the counter-terror body, contending that it will upset the federal structure and encroach on the powers of the states. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh vehemently opposed it saying that the Centre was trying to play as an undisputed leader. Narendra Modi said that the constitution of NCTC is a conscious strategy to cast the Centre as an "omnipresent" ruler with states portrayed as dependent vassals. Asserting that the NCTC was against the federal structure of the Constitution, Raman Singh said: "Our Constitution has cooperation and coordination-based federalism, but with the NCTC notification, I feel that it is being changed into a sub-ordination-based federalism." He said that there was lack of clarity on some of the provisions on the NCTC circulated through an office memorandum by the Home Ministry recently to States and suggested changes in them However, Nitish Kumar said that NCTC violates the principle of federalism and the structure adopted for it suffers from "serious and basic flaws". Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa said the proposed NCTC needs a total overhaul and suggested setting up of a smaller sub-committee of chief ministers. She said the Home Ministry's move to accumulate the counter-terrorism powers with the central agency is preposterous and reveals total lack of understanding of ground realities. West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee is among the front-runners to oppose the anti-terror agency despite being a ruling partner of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The main task of the NCTC would be to ensure that a wide variety of security organizations in the country work in tandem, at least on issues related to terrorism. It will also have the power to seek information, including documents, reports, transcripts, and cyber information from any agency, including from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency, National Technical Research Organization, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and all seven central armed police forces including the National Security Guard (NSG). The body, which will function under the Intelligence Bureau, would be given its own operational wing with powers to arrest and conduct searches under Section 43A of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Deadlock over formation of NCTC continues