Bhubaneswar: A day after receiving a
letter from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the NCTC, Orissa
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the state government
was now waiting for the Centre's next step for consultation.
"The Prime Minister has stated clearly that the chief
ministers who had written to him showing anxiety and concern
over the NCTC would be consulted and the Home Minister would
be in touch with us," Patnaik told reporters here.
"Let us wait for the next step of the Central
government, response of the Home Minister, he said.
Stating that he received the prime minister's letter
yesterday, Patnaik said that like every chief minister and
citizen of the nation, he was also concerned about the
country's security and menace of terrorism and extremism.
Chief Ministers of at least 13 states, including West
Bengal headed by UPA ally Trinamool Congress, have voiced
concerns about the formation of the body, which they claimed
would usurp the states' powers and disturb federal structure.
In identical letters to seven Chief Ministers who had
written to him on this, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
yesterday assured them that states' powers would not be
affected and Home Minister P Chidambaram would talk to them.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 21:04