PC, Modi in rare face-off

Venkat Parsa New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram crossed swords, in a rare face-off, on the sidelines of the Chief Ministers Conference on Internal Security. Chidambaram appeared to be in no mood to let Modi get away unchallenged, as the latter hurled charges against the Congress and the Centre. The Union Finance Minister chose to come before the media and challenge the Gujarat Chief Minister on each and every count on which Modi hurled charges against the Centre.

Modi dared the Centre to arrest him in Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, charging that the Centre was misusing CBI to get at him. Modi tweeted, "Unfortunate that in its quest to target political opponents, Centre is undermining intelligence systems, with CBI questioning IB officials. I objected the misuse of Central agencies against political opponents. It weakens the agencies & compromises fight against terror & Maoism." Chidambaram took strong objection to it, saying the CBI investigations into the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case are being conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The government had no role to play in it. By making all kinds of statements on the CBI questioning certain police officers in the case, the BJP was trying not only to weaken but even derail the Supreme Court-monitored investigation. Modi demanded a White Paper on internal security. The nation would like to know what were the measures taken by the government, what were the suggestions made by the chief ministers and what was the government response during the last 10 years of the UPA regime, he said. Chidambaram responded, saying that Monthly Reports of the Home Ministry list out the measures. This meets 50 per cent of Modi's requirement. The remaining 50 per cent is met by the Action Taken Reports on the Chief Ministers Conference on Internal Security. It was only a matter of piecing together all these reports and Modi can have his White Paper, remarked Chidambaram. On the BJP's stubborn opposition to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Chidambaram expressed his dismay and anguish. He said in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks on 26/11 in 2008, the Centre had firmed up anti-terror law. Under it, three instruments were also worked out by him, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) and the NCTC. When the MAC was formed in the IB, it was ridiculed by the BJP. Now Modi has come forward to praise the MAC, as opposed to the NCTC. Chidambaram declared, "If even this form of NCTC is opposed, the country will pay the price from time to time." The NCTC was taken out of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), as the Opposition objected to it and brought it under Union Home Ministry. Still the Opposition has not relented. Modi is batting for bringing back TADA and POTA, which the UPA totally opposes, Chidambaram said. All the BJP Chief Ministers opposed the NCTC, even after the entire structure had been revamped. Besides Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh of BJP, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of AIADMK and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, opposed the NCTC. Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee, who skipped the Chief Ministers Conference on Internal Security, also opposed NCTC. Jayalalithaa claimed the periodic meetings were a "ritual...to rubber-stamp the Centre's decisions." Modi echoed Jayalalithaa's views, saying, "The Government is constantly weakening the federal structure. All States work together with the centre but the attitude of Big Brother adopted by government is not good."