Mamata shares Naveen's concern over anti-terror body



BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has found support from West Bengal in its opposition to the Centre's plan to give wide ranging powers to the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) without consulting the states.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday informed her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik that she had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking review and withdrawal of the February 3 order of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) on organization, function and powers of NCTC formed in the Intelligence Bureau, sources said. Interestingly, Mamata has sent a copy of her February 14 letter to Naveen.

This followed Naveen's telephonic discussion with Mamata on NCTC on Monday after writing to the Prime Minister in which he had accused the Congress-led UPA government of infringing upon the rights of state governments, and demanded withdrawal of the MHA order on NCTC.

Terming the order "draconian", Naveen said the order vests powers in NCTC, which appear to be an "infringement upon the powers of state governments in matters of investigation and maintenance of order".

"The people of our nation are aware of their democratic and federal rights, which at times have to be underlined by state governments to the Centre. After all, the price of democratic freedom is eternal vigilance. It would seem that the UPA government, at times, knowingly or unknowingly, infringes upon those federal rights," Naveen added.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mamata, in her letter to PM, said, "The order appears to be an infringement upon the powers of state governments in matters of investigation and maintenance of order."

Though an ally of the UPA, Mamata responding to Naveen's call for opposition to the Centre's plan on NCTC has sparked speculation about a new equationat the national level, ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Naveen has not only contacted Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalatithaa and former Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu to raise their voices against NCTC, but, enthused over unofficial trends suggesting a BJD landslide victory in the panchayat polls, also publicly expressed the need for an alternative front to fight the "thoroughly discredited" and "scam-ridden" UPA and "communally tainted" NDA..

Mamata shares Naveen's concern over anti-terror body - The Times of India