Apprehensions about the Centre encroaching on the rights of the states, came out in the open on Thursday with the constituents and allies of the ruling UPA coalition joining ranks with the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to stall the Border Security Force Amendment Bill.
Spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Trinamool Congress, BSP, SP, AIADMK and CPI(M) all wanted the Bill to be first discussed at the chief ministers conference on April 16, as the issue involved relations between the Centre and the states. And, the Whistleblowers Protection Bill was also stalled due to protests from the Opposition.
While home minister P Chidambaram tried his best to assure that the BSF Bill was only an amendment to legalise the deployment of a central paramilitary force to states at the latter’s request (The BSF is mandated to be posted only at the national borders), the Opposition was not convinced.
Arun Jaitley, leader of the opposition, told Chidambaram, “Unlike in the past, our apprehension on Thursday about an attack on the federal structure is not without basis.” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad added, “There is an increasing sense of apprehension felt by state governments across the ideological divide on the issue of the federal structure.”
Citing instances of the Centre’s alleged attempts to encroach on the powers of states,the JD(U)’s Shivanand Tiwari said, “The way the Lokayuktas have been brought under the ambit of the Lok Pal Bill has made us apprehensive about the Centre’s motives.”
The home minister hastened to assure the MPs that “there is no hidden agenda of the government” but his pleas for urgent amendment of the existing law, as there were 114 companies of the BSF currently deployed in state interiors without any legal sanction, did not cut ice. “There are 54 companies of the BSF in internal districts and 60 in Naxal affected districts. In the law ministry’s opinion, this is not permitted,” said Chidambaram.
Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), while accepting Chidamabaram’s statement that central forces have been and will be deployed only at the request of the states, noted the Bill did not categorically say so. The Samajwadi Party’s Ramgopal Yadav insisted the Bill be deferred to April 16, when the chief ministers could discuss this with the Prime Minister, with other contentious issues like the RPF Act amendment and National Counter Terrorism Centre.
The Whistleblowers Bill was stalled with the Opposition alleging the government had hastily brought it in, without giving them adequate time to move amendments.
