Centre to convene crucial CMs meet on Internal Security today

A crucial meet of Chief Ministers of all states is set to begin today in New Delhi for discussing on country's internal security concern and strengthening intelligence capabilities and border securities.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to chair the meeting while Home Minister P Chidambaram will also attend the meeting. It is expected that Chief Ministers of all states have given their nod to attend the meeting except West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is not coming in Delhi.

West Bengal's Finance Minister Amit Mitra will attend the meeting instead.

According to news sources, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha has convened a separate meeting at Tamil Nadu Bhawan on the sideline of CMs meet. Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik are likely to attend the meeting for mulling over what happened in CMs meet.

The key agenda in Centre's CMs meeting will be concerns over internal security, cross-border infiltration, activities of Pakistan-based terror outfits, Maoists and Naxals activities, insurgency in the Northeast and combating economic offences, especially counterfeit currency.

How to strength police forces, intelligence capabilities, border and coastal security, capacity building and National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will also be discussed.

The Chief Ministers of eight states mostly non-congress CMs were against NCTC matter stating that it will intervene in federal structure of India as states must have own power to counter terrorism.

Besides West Bengal Chief Minister, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Madhya Pradesh CM Raman Singh, Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal, Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh and Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal are against NCTC.

A separate meeting on addressing the concerns over NCTC is also be scheduled on May 05 and it is expected that Mamata Banerjee who is skipping today's meet, may attend this meeting and raise her voice against NCTC, report says.

--With Agencies Inputs--