Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not attend a crucial meeting on internal security with the Prime Minister on Monday. A representative from her party will attend the meeting in her place. The key UPA ally, however, is expected to attend the May 5 meeting on the controversial National Counter Terror Centre (NCTC) issue.
The Trinamool chief, along with a few other Chief Ministers, had forced the Centre to convene the May 5 meeting saying the April 16 conclave would not afford enough time and opportunity to discuss their concerns over the NCTC.
Ms Banerjee and her counterparts from Tamil Nadu, Odisha and a few other states have been opposing the setting up of the NCTC claiming the proposed anti-terror hub would infringe upon the states' powers and hurt the country's federal structure.
The April 16 meeting will focus on strengthening counter-terrorism and intelligence capabilities and strengthening border and coastal security. Cross-border terrorism, infiltration from across the border to Jammu and Kashmir, activities of Pakistan-based terror outfits, insurgency in the northeast and combating economic offences, especially counterfeit currency notes, will also come up for detailed deliberations. The NCTC is also listed as one of the items for discussion.
When the invite for this meeting was extended to Ms Banerjee, she wrote to the PM demanding that the "very sensitive issue" of NCTC be the only matter of discussion when the chief ministers sit for discussion on April 16. This, she said, would ensure adequate interaction.
And it wasn't just Ms Banerjee, Ms Jayalalithaa too expressed her displeasure to the fact that despite strong objections and repeated requests by several states, no separate meeting of chief ministers was being called to brain storm over the matter. In her letter, the Tamil Nadu chief minister asked the PM to keep the anti-terror body in abeyance and urged him to urgently convene a separate meeting on NCTC.
Giving in to their demand, the PM decided to discuss the NCTC row with protesting chief ministers on May 5.
Ms Jayalalithaa's party has said she will attend the April 16 meeting to be chaired by PM Manmohan Singh.
Other chief ministers who have written to the PM slamming the NCTC are Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.
Ms Banerjee, with her 19 Lok Sabha MPs, has whipped the government into submission on many occasions - she recently forced the UPA to suspend its reforms in retail - the increased Foreign Direct Investment in shops or chains that stock different brands was a move by the Prime Minister and his team to prove wrong allegations of policy paralysis.