Where are the numbers, Mr Prime Minister, asks Sushma after vote on anti-terror centre

New Delhi:  The government won a vote today on its proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), but that victory, according to the BJP, exposes that the government is in a minority. The opposition has also highlighted that ministers of the Trinamool Congress, headed by Mamata Banerjee, walked out of the House before the vote.  

After the vote, the BJP's Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "There were 227 votes in favour of the Government. It is 45 less than the majority. The Government's majority claim has been exposed." She added, "They have been saying - 'We have the number, we have the number'. Mr Prime Minister Where is the number?" Referring to the fact that the Trinamool did not vote in favour of the government, she said, "It is for the first time that even Ministers of alliance partner (TMC) walked out of the House. It is huge embarrassment for the Government."

The BJP and the Left had pushed for votes against the government for violating the federal structure of the country via the NCTC. A simple majority is 272 in the Lok Sabha which has 543 seats. The government came in under that mark, but members of the Trinamool Congress and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) walked out during the vote, reducing by 40 the number of MPs present and voting. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who today denied reports that he will formally join the ruling coalition, also lent assistance by voting along with the government. But 60 MPs from the UPA - including 12 from the Congress, which leads the ruling coalition - were absent during the vote. The Congress had issued a whip to its MPs, ordering them to be present. Those who were missing are likely to be served a showcause notice with the party demanding an explanation.

Ms Banerjee, who is both Trinamool chief and West Bengal chief minister, has led a contingent of 10 chief ministers who objected to the NCTC. By walking out during the vote, her MPs were not forced to vote against the government alongside the BJP and the Left. At the same time, they avoided voting in favour of a policy that they have criticised fiercely. Sources in the Trinamool Congress say that this was part of a strategy worked out with the Congress this morning. But the BJP was quick to point out that Trinamool ministers like Mukul Roy and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were among those who left the House.    

The vote on the contentious NCTC today was held in the form of amendments moved by the Left and the BJP to the Motion of Thanks given by the Prime Minister this morning for the President's address. Last week, President Pratibha Patil inaugurated the Budget session of Parliament with her speech in which she outlined the agenda of the government. The NCTC was mentioned. The opposition wanted that reference to be deleted. The Prime Minister in his Motion of Thanks said that consultations with state governments will continue about the plans and powers for the NCTC.

He also reiterated that the Home Minister will meet with all chief ministers on April 16 to discuss their concerns. The NCTC has the right to arrive in any state, conduct searches for suspects, and make arrests. State governments say this impedes upon their right to handle law and order, and that the state police force must play a larger role in the NCTC's operations.

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Fate of national anti-terror body remains uncertain

New Delhi:  After spending an entire day to convince states that the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) as proposed by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram wouldn't infringe on the powers of the individual states, the Union Home Ministry issued a short press brief claiming "almost all states in principle agreed on the need to have an effective anti-terrorism mechanism like National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC)." And, yet it is clear that the NCTC, the dream project of the Union Home Minister, is unlikely to go through in its present shape and form.

The NCTC is structured to be a pre-emptive anti-terrorist strike task force. It is empowered to demand information from all bodies and organizations across the country, collate such information and carry out stealthy counter terrorist operations on its own without keeping the local government or the local police in the loop till the operation is over. This didn't go done well with the states. Several states including the UPA's ally Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Prime Minister in protest. It forced the government to stop operationalizing the NCTC.

Today's meeting with the Chief Secretary's, Director General of Police and heads of states anti- terror units was aimed at defusing this opposition. The result of consultation, however, seems to be contrary to expectations. States like Bihar and Orissa are understood to have told the Centre that formation of a body as powerful the NCTC without political consultations is unacceptable. They are also understood to have said that the NCTC with unbridled powers to raid, search, seizure and arrest cannot be placed under the Intelligence Bureau which is not accountable before the courts and even out of the purview of the RTI act. BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh has told the Centre that NCTC should be kept separate of the Intelligence Bureau and counter terrorist operations should be carried out jointly with the state police organizations instead of the NCTC carrying out counter-terrorist operations on its own.

And, it is not only non-Congress ruled states that have raised an alarm.  Congress ruled Kerala while accepting the NCTC has pointed out that powers of NCTC and its functioning needs to be clarified as does the role and scope of the local police organizations.

The Union Home Ministry, on the other hand, is understood to have told the states that the Centre is well within its powers to form a body like the NCTC. Union Home Secretary R K Singh is believed to have told the anxious state representatives that Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as amended in 2008 allows the Centre to have a body that can search, seize and arrest.

Clearly, therefore, the fate of NCTC remains uncertain with neither the Centre nor the states willing to budge.  In the United States, economist Jagdish Bhagwati writes in his book "In Defense of Globalization", tax laws are made very tough to please the Democrats and the loopholes introduced to please republicans. Perhaps this applies to the Centre as well, because hard-nosed politics is better suited to cover nations, not law books.

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