Centre, states must work together: Sonia/asserted that the Centre “cannot shirk its responsibility” when it comes to fighting terrorism or dealing with left-wing extremism.

Centre, states must work together: Sonia Express news service : New Delhi, Thu May 10 2012, 00:25 hrs Days after chief ministers of Opposition-ruled states opposed the setting up of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday asserted that the Centre “cannot shirk its responsibility” when it comes to fighting terrorism or dealing with left-wing extremism. Dwelling on the discussion in recent months on Centre-state relations at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) here, Sonia said, “I would like to reiterate here that we are fully committed to strengthening federalism, which is a key tenet of our party and the UPA’s agenda. What better evidence of this can there be than the unprecedented transfers of financial assistance from the Centre to the states these past eight years?” “But there are Centre-state issues of major national importance, such as fighting terrorism or dealing with left-wing extremism, where the Centre cannot shirk its responsibility. In such cases, it has been our government’s endeavour to work closely with the state governments so that our national interest is protected. Trust and cooperation must be the anchor of Centre-state relations,” said the Congress president. Even as she is going through the A K Antony Committee report on the party’s debacle in the recent Assembly elections in Punjab, Goa and UP, she sought to give a clean chit to leaders involved in the UP campaign. “While we take satisfaction in the fact that we returned to power in Manipur for the third time and formed the government in Uttarakhand, the results in Punjab and Goa were very disappointing. In UP, even though we did not perform as well as we had hoped to, we increased our vote share quite considerably and were seen as a serious player for the first time in 22 years,” she said. She said party leaders must shed all manner of factional behaviour and fight as one disciplined team at all levels, which will be the “single most important factor to decide whether we win or lose”. Slamming the Opposition for disrupting Parliament, she said, “Whatever motives may guide the Opposition, we have but one singular duty and that is to the people who have elected us and expect Parliament to function constructively. It seems to have become almost fashionable these days to criticise the government. We must expose the Opposition’s doublespeak...”