The amendments moved by the Opposition parties on the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) were defeated in the Lok Sabha Monday.
The motion moved by the BJP, the BJD and the CPI (M) took a beating with 226 members voting against it and 141 in its favor. The Left's motion too was defeated with 227 members voting against and 146 in favor.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BSP helped the UPA government by abstaining from voting. Samajwadi Party (SP) also withdrew its amendment on the NCTC and voted for the government.
The anti-terror agency, which is supposed to be an effective way to check terrorism in the country, was planned to be formed on March 1. However, it was put on back-burner following the opposition across the states, mainly from non-Congress governments.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured in Parliament Monday that the NCTC would not be commissioned before a meeting with all Chief Ministers, thus the government will consider all their laments over the élite anti-terror body. He said that NCTC was the best way forward in "dealing with terrorism and dealing with internal security threats.
