A file photo of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram
With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress locking horns over the issue of detention centres, former finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday was asked how the detention camps set up by Congress were any different from those under the current government.
“The detention camps were set-up under the Foreigners Act and not in the context of the Citizenship Amendment Act or the National Register of Citizens," the senior Congress leader said at a press briefing in New Delhi on Saturday.
The remarks come amid a heated war of words between the ruling party and the opposition, triggered by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the Prime Minister.
In a tweet on Thursday, the Congress leader had alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was lying to the country on the issue of detention camps in Assam.
The BJP was quick to issue a rejoinder, as it called out the Congress for its double-standards on the matter and misleading the people of the country.
BJP spokesperson Sambhit Patra said he has used objectionable language but it was too much to ask for decency in public discourse from him.
Addressing a press conference hours after Rahul’s remarks, Patra showed the official statement issued by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011 stating that detention centres have been set up in Assam.
"Rahul Gandhi is Joothon ka Sardar. The three detention centres were set up in Assam by his party which was in power both at the Centre and the state," he said.
Patra also showed the 'white paper' issued by the Assam government on the issue of illegal migrants and claimed it also talks about setting up of detention centres.
Patra clarified there is no connection between detention centres and National Register of Citizens.
Gandhi had attacked Modi over his remarks that there were no detention centres in the country, alleging that "RSS's Prime Minister lies to Bharat Mata.”
Taking to Twitter, he also attached a video clip with Modi accusing the Congress, its allies and "urban Naxals" of spreading the rumour that Muslims will be sent to detention centres.
The clip also shows a purported detention centre being constructed in Assam.
(with PTI inputs)
