Senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Friday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "liar" for saying that there is no detention camp in the country and claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre had sanctioned Rs 46 crore for one in Assam's Goalpara district.
Gogoi said the Congress government in Assam he had headed had set up detention camps in the state as per a Gauhati High Court order.
Former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had suggested setting up detention camps for illegal immigrants, he said.
"Modi is a liar", Gogoi said at a press conference here, referring to a rally by the prime minister at the national capital in which he had said there is no detention camp in the country.
"In 2018, the Narendra Modi government had sanctioned Rs 46 crore for constructing the largest detention centre at Matia in Goalpara district of Assam for housing 3,000 illegal immigrants. Suddenly he says there is no detention camp," Gogoi said.
"Why did the BJP government in 2018 sanction Rs 46 crore? This shows Modi is a liar", Gogoi asserted.
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He said the Congress government which he helmed in the state had set up detention camps in Assam as per the directions of the Gauhati High Court in 2008.
Gogoi had led three consecutive governments in the state from 2001 to 2016.
"They (BJP) say these (detention) camps were set up by the Congress. We set them up as per the order of the High Court to detain people who were declared 'foreigners' by the Foreigners' Tribunal," he said.
The Congress stalwart said nobody is stopping the BJP government from deporting the illegal immigrants from Assam.
"Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal accuses Congress of being responsible for (the presence of) illegal immigrants. All right, then why do you not detect and deport them?
On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Gogoi said, "After witnessing countrywide stir against the NRC, Modi now says there is no proposal for a countrywide register of citizens. But, the union home minister had informed the Parliament that the exercise would be done across the country."