A master liar, Rahul should know detention centres set up during Congress rule: BJP

New Delhi, Dec 27: The BJP on Thursday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his liar jibe at the prime minister, dubbing him as "joothon ka sardar" (master of lies) and saying detention camps in Assam were set up when the Congress was in power both at the Centre and the state.

In a tweet earlier in the day, the former Congress president had alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was lying to the country on the issue of detention camps in Assam.

BJP spokesperson Sambhit Patra alleged that after apologising to the Supreme Court on the Rafale issue, Rahul Gandhi is now spreading lies on the detention centres.

He asserted that Prime Minister Modi had only said there is no such detention camp in which Muslims of India will be placed after NRC.

Addressing a press conference, Patra showed the official statement issued by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011 and 'White Paper' on the issue of foreigners published by the party-led government in Assam in 2012, and claimed that as per these documents, detention camps were established in the state.

"Rahul Gandhi is Joothon ka Sardar. The three detention centres were set up in Assam at the time when his party was in power both at the Centre and the state," Patra said.

On October 20, 2012, the Congress government in Assam released the white paper on the issue of foreigners and on its page number 38, it was written that the Central government has directed the Assam government to set up detention centres, Patra claimed.

As per the details available in the white paper, a detention centre each was established in Golpara, Kokrajhar and Silchar by the then Congress government, in which 66, 32 and 20 foreigners were kept respectively.

He said there is no connection between detention centres and the National Register of Citizens.
Gandhi on Thursday 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.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, Patra said he knows nothing but speaks on everything.

"Rahul Gandhi has no knowledge on any subject, but has to speak on every subject. His attack is neither intended on the issue of NPR nor CAA but to attack Modi. The Congress party is unable to digest how a tea seller became prime minister," the BJP spokesperson said.

Dubbing Rahul as "liar" and describing Modi as performer, Patra said people of India are intelligent and they know how to differentiate between a liar and a performer.