BJP finds Centre and State Governments divided

New Delhi, Apr 16 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday alleged that the relationship between Centre and the various state governments has deteriorated.

BJP spokesperson Balbir Punj said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government treated non-Congress state governments as 'enemies'.

"The Centre and state relationship has worsened under the UPA-II because the Congress-led government, the UPA-II, has started treating the non-Congress (state) governments not even as an adversary, but as an enemy," said Punj.

"As a result, there is a lot of dissatisfaction in the non-Congress states. There is total loss of confidence in the Central Government," he added.

Punj further said that the Central Government had failed to convince the states on the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

"The intentions of the government are dishonest and the Central government has not been able to convince the non-Congress state governments that this law will not be misused," he said.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the annual conference of Chief Ministers on internal security here earlier in the day.

Reaching out to states complaining over the NCTC, Dr. Singh has favoured joint and coordinated efforts to deal with challenges of terrorism whatever its origin, whether internal or external.

"There is no question that the burden of the fight against terrorism falls largely on the states' machinery. The Centre is ready to work with the states to put in place strong and effective institutional mechanisms to tackle this problem," he said.

Non-Congress Chief Ministers including UPA ally Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee have raised objections to the provisions in the NCTC, contending that it will upset the federal structure and encroach on the powers of the states. (ANI)