The main Opposition BJP on Tuesday demanded that the government should put its executive order on setting up the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in abeyance till a consensus is evolved with the states.

Alleging that the Congress-led UPA took the decision to establish the anti-terror body without consulting the states, the party insisted that the fight against terrorism is as much a responsibility of the states as that of the Centre and to combat it effectively the states have to be involved.
“This (NCTC) is one of the many instances which show that statecraft and statesmanship have become alien to this government... We are not a union of states but have a federal structure. If the government questions this, the states have a right to protest,” said the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley.
Insisting that federalism is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution which no Parliament can change, Mr Jaitley said public order and police powers are functions of the states in the federal set-up.
“The Centre cannot substitute police powers of the states. It can only aid and assist. The Centre cannot take away from the states their power of search and seizure, and the power to arrest,” Mr Jaitley said. He cited the example of Tada and Pota, two Central laws for which the states were the implementing agency.
The party maintained that Centre has a responsibility when it comes to fighting cross-border terrorism, inter-state crimes and in gathering national intelligence as the states cannot handle them. But the powers of the states to legislate and implement matters of law and order, search, seizure and arrest should not be encroached upon, Mr Jaitley said.