VB-G RAM G Bill row | Rahul says MGNREGA overhaul as PM 'dislikes' Gandhi; Congress to hold nationwide stir

'Modi-ji has a deep dislike for two things -- the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the rights of the poor', Rahul said in a post on X.

New Delhi: Congress will hold nationwide protest on Wednesday against the ‘VB - G RAM G Bill’, which replaces the existing rural employment guarantee scheme, with top Congress leader Rahul saying that the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the law is due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “dislike” for the Father of the Nation and the rights of the poor.

Pledging to oppose the “anti-people” Bill from “Sadak to Sansad (from to Parliament)”, the party has asked its units to organise protests at district headquarters on Wednesday. It has asked the workers to hold Gandhi’s portraits to symbolise the resistance against “erasure” of his name and value and highlight how the new law will impact beneficiaries.

On Congress' Foundation Day on December 28, General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said in letters to state president and legislature party leaders, the party will take the protests to mandal level and villages, “reaffirming the party's commitment to dignity of labour, social justice and the right to work”.

The party decided to intensify its protest against the the 'Viksit Bharat: Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission VB- G RAM G Bill' aimed at repealing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, as the government introduced it in Lok Sabha and did not committed to sending it to a Parliamentary panel for scrutiny.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who is presently in Germany, posted on 'X', “Modi-ji has a deep dislike for two things -- the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the rights of the poor.” He said the MGNREGA, which is the living embodiment of Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj, has “always unsettled” Modi.

“For the past ten years, his government has systematically tried to weaken it. Today, he is determined to erase MGNREGA altogether,” he said.

He said MGNREGA was built on three fundamental principles -- right to employment, autonomy for villages to decide their own development works and full wage support by the central government and 75% of material costs.

“Now, Modi-ji wants to transform MGNREGA into a tool of centralised control: 1. Budgets, schemes, and rules will be dictated by the Centre. 2. States will be forced to bear 40% of the costs. 3. Once funds run out, or during harvest season, workers will be denied employment for months,” he said.

Describing the new bill as a direct insult to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, he said, “after destroying the future of India’s youth through massive unemployment, the Modi government is now targeting the secure livelihood of poor rural families. From Sadak to Sansad, we will oppose this anti-people bill.”

In his circular, Venugopal told party leaders that the “conscious decision” to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name is “deeply ideological” and reflects the “long-standing discomfort” the BJP-RSS towards the Father of the Nation. He said the Bill abolishes the legal right to employment by replacing the demand-driven scheme into a supply-driven one.

Venugopal also raised concern over the union government shifting the financial burden on to states while capping allocations, weakening federalism.

“The combined attack on Gandhi’s legacy, workers’ rights and federal responsibility exposes a larger BJP-RSS conspiracy to dismantle rights-based welfare and replace it with charity controlled from the Centre,” he said.

“This is both a political and moral struggle. The Congress party must lead from the front to defend MGNREGA, Gandhi’s legacy and constitutional promise of justice for the poorest,” he added