Ahmedabad, 16 April 2012
>Against the backdrop of states’ opposition to the NCTC and proposed amendments to the BSF Act, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met their Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa here.

After attending the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security, Patnaik and Modi went to the Tamil Nadu Bhawan to hold separate meetings with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also paid a visit to the Tamil Nadu Bhawan.

“I am here to pay courtesy call on madam J Jayalalithaa. Madam is an old family friend of my father, so I came here to pay a courtesy call,” Patnaik told reporters.

Patnaik was the first to reach the Tamil Nadu Bhawan and Modi joined him later.

Modi went inside the hall where the Odisha Chief Minister was meeting his Tamil Nadu counterpart. Modi and Patnaik exchanged greetings after which Patnaik left.

The meeting assumes significance as non-Congress governments in states were opposing the creation of a counter-terrorism centre and proposed amendments to the BSF Act, maintaining that the two infringe upon the states’ rights in a federal set up.