Chidambaram proposes Q & A to PM Modi over CAA

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have a televised Q and A session over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The former union minister alleged that the Modi is reluctant to take questions over the Act, which has triggered widespread protests across the country. He said that CAA in "conjunction" with the National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) will take away citizenship of many people.

"PM says that CAA is meant to give citizenship, not to take it away. Many of us believe that CAA (in conjunction with NPR or NRC) will declare many persons as "non-citizens" and take away citizenship," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

"The only way out is for the PM to select five of his most articulate critics and have a televised Q and A session with them. Let the people listen to the discussion and reach their conclusions on CAA. I sincerely hope PM will respond favourably to this suggestion," he tweeted.

The Congress leader said that the Prime Minister is not talking to his critics.

"PM talks from high platforms to silent audiences and does not take questions. We talk through the media and are willing to take questions from media persons," he tweeted.

"PM is not talking to his critics. The critics do not have an opportunity to talk to the PM," he said in another tweet.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.