NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday announced it will launch a nationwide mass movement from January 5 against the Centre’s attempts to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), drawing parallels with the pushback that led to the repeal of the three farm laws.
The decision was taken at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here, which also resolved to oppose any move to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the rural job scheme and to convert workers’ legally guaranteed rights into what the party termed a government dole.
In a resolution, the CWC said the Congress would “protect MGNREGA and the rights of India’s workers” and would take the issue to “every last village” across the country.
After a nearly three-hour CWC meeting, the first one after the Bihar poll debacle, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will lead the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ from January 5, and a detailed plan will be announced soon under which rallies will be held across the country.
Addressing a press conference, Kharge said MGNREGA was a visionary UPA legislation appreciated globally. The scheme was named after Mahatma Gandhi due to its impact, he said. “Repealing MGNREGA is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi,” he added, calling it an attack on the Right to Work.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi targeted the BJP government, alleging that “the PM carried out a devastating attack on states and the poor, much like demonetisation.” He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “single-handedly destroying” the MGNREGA scheme without consulting his Cabinet or states and without studying the matter, terming it an attack on the democratic structure that will ruin the rural economy.
The Congress, Rahul said, has vowed to resist the government’s action and expressed confidence that the entire Opposition would join the movement. He linked the decision to scrap MGNREGA to the decimation of Indian labour, saying it guaranteed a minimum floor below which labour could not fall.
“It is going to cause tremendous pain to the weaker sections, to Adivasis, Dalits, OBCs, poor general castes, and minorities,” Rahul alleged.
In his opening remarks, Kharge alleged collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission of India and accused the government of misusing the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department, and the CBI.
In cryptic post, Digvijaya hails BJP
Congress MP Digvijaya Singh triggered a row Saturday after publicly praising the organisational strength of the BJP and RSS. In a post on X, Singh shared PM Narendra Modi’s old picture seated near L K Advani, and said “... the grassroots ‘swayamsevak’ of RSS and worker of Jan Sangh @BJP4India sat on the floor at the feet of leaders and became the CM of a state and PM? This is the power of the organization.”