A fresh row has erupted over the communal violence bill with 5 chief ministers skipping the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa were the five to skip the meeting.
According to sources, Modi has been upset with the central government for not acting on the issue of the appointment of Lokayukta in the state. Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal independently appointed the Lokayukta without consulting the state ministry, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has contended.
Modi is also opposed to the communal violence bill brought by the centre, which is also the reason for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to skip the meet.
Gujarat has a BJP-led government while Bihar has a Janata Dal-United (JD-U)-BJP alliance government.
The BJP has been opposing the bill, calling it 'discriminatory' and 'bound to be misused'. Part leader Sushma Swaraj said the bill was 'dangerous' and that it should not be brought to the Parliament.
There were other voices of dissent too.
"The Bill expresses feeling of mistrust in the state government machinery and lack clarity in defining crimes for organised communal violence," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said during the meeting of National Integration Council (NIC) here.
"I urge the Union Government to have faith in the state governments and strengthen them, which in turn will strengthen the nation. If state governments are weakened to serve some vested interests, the nation will become weak and it will give impetus to parochial forces," Chouhan said.
Citing some of the clauses, he said, "The provision of section 9 of this Bill has been made on the presumption that the state government institutions are deliberately provoking religious fanaticism and violence.