New Delhi, May 4
Tomorrow when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurates the special meeting with Chief Ministers on the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), well-wishers of the project will be hoping that the Centre and States overcome their political differences and allow the setting up of the anti-terror body.

The meeting is crucial as it could make or break the NCTC. A nod from the CMs will make the NCTC cross the hurdle. One thing is clear: The CMs will have a major say in deciding the kind of operational powers NCTC sleuths would enjoy and this could break the three-month deadlock. The meeting will decide the path of India’s anti-terror campaign and lay the groundwork of a unified and common pattern of approach in dealing with mushrooming terror modules.

“The meeting is expected to be fiery. Many BJP-ruled states will protest despite the clear demarcation that the state police will arrest suspects and not the NCTC alone,” said a functionary.

One of the key compromise formulas is that the powers to arrest and conduct operations will now jointly lie with the state police and the NCTC. The NCTC, a Central body, will intervene in rare cases when immediate action is needed. Even after doing that it will have to immediately inform the state police chief. The Home Ministry has proposed that the NCTC will “as far as possible” keep the heads of the state police and anti-terror squads informed about its operations in advance.

The states could seek that the NCTC be only a guiding body that will collate and send out specific information working closely with the state police.

Chief Ministers — Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu’s J Jayalalithaa, Gujarat’s Narendra Modi, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar besides others -- are among the NCTC’s main opponents and have been against vesting powers of arrest with it.

Mamata, who currently has strained ties with the Congress, had yesterday made it clear that she would oppose the NCTC, even if it did not have the powers to arrest. Officials said Modi and Jayalalithaa are expected to oppose the NCTC vehemently despite their concerns being addressed. Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik are keeping their cards close to the chest and have not spoken publicly. Nitish could even agree after a few amendments.