State Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday questioned the moral and constitutional authority of the SAD-BJP government in rejecting the Centres proposal to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) by saying that it was not authorised to take policy decisions regarding the state at this juncture. Saying that the decision should be taken by an elected and not a caretaker government,Amarinder criticized the SAD-BJP alliance,particularly Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,for blindly toeing the line taken by the BJP purely for partisan considerations while overlooking national interest. Meanwhile,in a statement issued here,SAD strongly criticised Amarinders claim. SAD Secretary and Spokesman Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the new proposal of the Centre is aimed at curtailing powers of state governments,which is against the basic spirit of federalism enshrined in the Constitution. Cheema claimed that it was not the first time when the Punjab Congress chief had publicly opposed the interests of the state. Earlier too,Amarinder had toed a line,which pleased the central leadership of the Congress and had seldom taken care of the interests of the state,said Cheema. He added that 14 chief ministers have opposed this anti-federal initiative of the Congress-led UPA government,even though some of them are otherwise aligned with UPA,but the Congress president of Punjab has preferred to support it,ignoring the damage it is going to do with the states.
