With the setting up of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) turning into a political crisis for the Congress led UPA, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh intervened on Tuesday and assured that the state’s powers will not be usurped.

Earlier in the day, during the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on home affairs, the Congress MPs also wanted the home ministry to hold “wider consultations’’ on the issue. Opposition MPs from BJP, AIADMK, BJD, CPI(M), CPI continued with their protests and termed it an impingement on the federal rights of states. Ms Banerjee will be meeting the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
The standing committee, under the chairmanship of BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu, has asked the Union home secretary R.K. Singh to convey the concerns of the MPs to the government. The home secretary’s effort to defend the move was shot down by the members, who maintained that “battling terrorism is not the sole responsibility of the Centre”, sources disclosed. BJP leader L.K. Advani led the saffron charge.
The PM made it clear that “NCTC has been located within the IB. “He pointed out that the “primary purpose of the NCTC is to coordinate counter-terrorism efforts throughout the country.”