Political Ping-Pong On Detention Centres Between BJP-Congress

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people not to get misled by 'urban naxals' and the opposition parties on the presence of detention centres for illegal migrants in the country. He told a mammoth gathering which had assembled at Ramlila grounds that there were no detention centres anywhere in the country. The Congress was quick to hit back with what it said was evidence of the presence of detention centres.

Media correspondents travelled to Matia, a village in Assam where one such centre was being built and television channels showed footage of the ongoing construction. As the war on social media platforms got bitter, the Congress sharpened its attack on PM Modi and the BJP. Rahul Gandhi called the Prime Minister a liar and referred to the detention centre in Assam. Other Congress and opposition leaders joined the chorus of those castigating Narendra Modi.

The BJP retaliated with its spokesman, Sambit Patra, furnishing documents relating to the UPA era, from the Union Home ministry to substantiate his point that the detention centres were planned by the previous government. He retorted by calling Rahul Gandhi, 'a chief of liars' (jhooton ka sardar).

Even while accusations have been flying thick and fast on whose brainchild the detention centres were, senior Congress leader from Assam, TarunGogoi has now waded into the controversy. He claimed that it was former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who first mooted the idea of detention centres for illegal immigrants. Terming prime minister Narendra Modi, a liar, Gogoi also said that the Centre had released Rs. 46 crores in 2018 for setting up a detention centre at Goalpara in Assam.

With each allegation and counter-allegation muddying the political waters further, and with the BJP showing no signs of backtracking on the CAA issue, it remains to be seen how this controversy pans out in the days to come.