P Chidambaram proposes Q&A to PM Modi over CAA

Amid the ongoing protests across India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has proposed a way out for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deal with his critics.

Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not talking to his critics, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday urged him to select five critics and have a televised question and answer session on CAA so that people can reach their own conclusions on the amended citizenship law.

The Congress leader said he hoped that the prime minister would respond favourably to his suggestion.

He reiterated that the opposition parties believe that CAA (in conjunction with NPR or NRC) will declare many persons as "non-citizens" and take away citizenship, which is contrary to PM's claim that the Act is meant to give citizenship, not take it away.

"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," he said.

Chidambaram's suggestion comes after Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday termed the CAA a "discriminatory and divisive" law whose "sinister" purpose was to divide people into religious lines, and asserted that the NPR (National Population Register) in form and content was "disguised NRC (National Register of Citizens)".

(With PTI inputs)