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| Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik, Mamata Banerjee |
New Delhi, Feb. 17: The spark of rebellion that chief minister Naveen Patnaik had ignited on the issue of the National Counter Terrorism Centre is spreading and fast becoming a major worry for an already embattled Congress leadership.
The leadership is watching with concern the new axis developing among some chief ministers and the cause for worry is far deeper than the engagement of its ally Mamata Banerjee with leaders of rival parties.
Adding to the Congress worry is a PTI report that states Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has voiced his opposition to the National Counter Terrorism Centre in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“The National Counter Terrorism Centre order by the central government is totally against the federal structure of the country,” the letter states.
This trend, the Congress fears, can redefine the traditional concept of federalism, institutionally weaken the already shaky Centre in this coalition era and may also revive the political option of a Third Front which had received a death blow in the 2009 general election.
Though officially the party tried not to attach much significance to the process of formation of a pressure group, as this chief ministers’ club could turn into, there are many leaders who feel this tendency of arm-twisting the Centre on larger issues of national concerns was a dangerous transgression of the spirit of federalism.
The Congress always stood for a strong Centre and even now believes that India needs a firmer centre of gravity, which, in political terms, means a stable government, preferably a system dominated by one party.
One senior leader said without wanting to be quoted: “We haven’t learnt lessons from the disastrous efforts of the Left to dictate terms to the UPA on the nuclear deal. Such episodes such as the stalling of FDI in retail, introduction of GST and other economic reforms prove that.”
In off-the-record conversations, most Congress leaders admit that political opportunism was playing a major role in the interpretation of federalism nowadays.
One leader said: “Where were these champions of federalism when the NDA imposed POTA on this country despite overwhelming opposition?”
Naveen and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee were all part of the NDA in 2001 when POTA, repealed later by the UPA, was enacted.
Congress leaders expressed surprise that chief ministers who willingly embraced POTA described the National Counter Terrorism Centre as “draconian”. But these leaders agree on the need for greater consultation with the states on all-important issues even as evolving consensus on everything is impossible. The Manmohan Singh government has been accused of not properly consulting the states on several occasions.
Admitting that proper consultation with the states should be done, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary said: “The nation is facing a hard time and the government has to ensure its priorities. The government has always been open-minded and is ready to discuss the issues with its partners. There are always ways and means of resolving the issues. The basic fact is that we must realise the responsibilities of federal structure. We are looking at national terror; I don’t think we should make any compromises.”
Asked whether Mamata was consolidating the third alternative and challenging the UPA, Chowdhary said: “I don’t want to read more into it. It is a part of democratic process if some chief minister wants to speak to other chief ministers and try to form a pressure group. We are not unduly disturbed.”
She added: “I think it is the collective responsibility of containing terror considering what has happened a few days ago. It is time for us to think consciously and work collectively and cohesively.”
Another spokesperson Manish Tewari also emphasised the need to “transcend the forms and look at the substance”, noting that terror is a real threat and there is a need to “bring together all elements of national power in real time in order to surmount a formidable challenge to it”.
He found nothing wrong in Mamata writing to the Prime Minister to “review and withdraw” the order on NCTC.
“We do not live in a monolithic political structure. We live in a multi-polar political structure. In that kind of arrangement, all chief ministers should have the right and flexibility of articulating their opinion on any administrative and political measure,” Tewari said, hinting that the Congress was not ready to adopt a confrontationist approach on the issue of federalism.
Tewari, however, said: “I do not think the intent is to create an agency, which will trample on the right of the state. The intent of the government is to have a proactive agency through which we can tackle terrorism.”