New Delhi, February 19
Opposition to the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has increased with two more non-Congress-ruled states joining in the chorus. Tripura (ruled by the Left) and Uttarakhand (ruled by the BJP) joined the anti-NCTC camp even as the government is readying itself to explain matters in the week ahead.

A detailed discussion with the states is on the cards. The NCTC is expected to be operational from March 1.

It would be a busy week ahead and the government was likely to adopt a two-pronged strategy, sources said. At first, the Prime Minister will assuage the feelings of the states that the NCTC is an attack on the federal structure of the country. Secondly, the government will do the legal explaining, especially on fears expressed by some chief ministers about the possible misuse of the NCTC to settle political scores.

The NCTC will have pan-India powers and an operational wing. The dichotomy is that the NCTC will be under the IB, which is not answerable to the legislative authority either at the Centre or in states.

One of the possible compromise formulae could be to have the NCTC as an independent body away from the ambit of the IB. This will make the NCTC answerable to Parliament. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has already cited Article 355 of the Constitution as the rallying point to enforce the new anti-terror mechanism. The Article lists the duty of the Union Government to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance. It says: “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every state against external aggression and internal disturbance.”

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni defended the government on the issue today. She said the fight against terrorism had to be fought jointly and that the Centre had no desire to infringe on the states’ rights.

Reacting to a question on resistance by several states over the NCTC, Soni said, “We have time and again said that terror should not be politicised… I believe that people of the country will stand together as a combined front to eradicate terrorism.”

Opposing the Centre’s decision to set up NCTC, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, “Law and order is a state subject and setting up of the NCTC is anti-constitutional.”

BJP spokesperson JP Nadda said, “The chief ministers of 10 states have taken a stand against the NCTC. One UPA alliance partner, who is also a chief minister, is opposing it. Two other parties, including the DMK, are opposing the move. This proves the arrogant style of functioning of the Congress and the UPA government.”

Earlier in the day, the Left Front government in Tripura joined the anti-NCTC chorus with Manik Sarkar becoming the 11th Chief Minister to oppose the proposal. Sarkar has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the proposal to set up the NCTC, saying the “unilateral” order would only create “misunderstanding”.

Narendra 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 framing laws. “If you accept the responsibility of state governments then is it not your (Centre’s) duty to consult them before framing laws?” he said in Ahmedabad.