Modi, Patnaik meet Jayalalithaa to mount pressure on Centre

Modi, Patnaik meet Jayalalithaa to mount pressure on Centre
    New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) United by their opposition to the
proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre, Chief Ministers of
Gujarat and Odisha, Narend

ra Modi and Navin Patnaik, today met
their Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa here to mount
pressure against the Centre’s move.
    Modi and Patnaik met Jayalalithaa at the Tamil Nadu House
separately after attending the Chief Ministers’ Conference on
Internal Security convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
    Patnaik was the first to meet Jayalalithaa and the two
were closeted for over 25 minutes. After the meeting, Patnaik
refused to divulge what transpired at the meeting, merely
saying it was a courtesy call as Jayal lithaa is an "old
family friend of my father."
    Soon after, Modi met Jayalalithaa for 40 minutes and
refused to speak to the waiting media. Jayalalithaa also did
not speak to the media.
    All the three leaders have been against the setting up of
NCTC and have expressed their displeasure in public several
times. Jayalalithaa and Modi had written to Singh in this
regard.
    There was no official word on Jayalalithaa’s meetings
with Modi and Patnaik. However, it is understood that the
leaders discussed a joint strategy to target the Centre on
NCTC and various other issues.
    The meeting assumes significance as non-Congress
governments in states are opposing the creation of a counter
terrorism centre and proposed amendments to the BSF Act,
maintaining that the two infringe upon the states’ rights in a
federal set up.
    Earlier, at the meeting, Jayalalithaa warned against an
"emerging pattern" wherein the state’s powers are "abrogated"
by the Centre through passage of bills and accused it of
showing "scant respect" for state governments.