New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said a nationwide campaign should be launched against the repeal of rural employment scheme MGNREGA, similar to the pushback against the three farm laws the government was eventually forced to withdraw.
Speaking at the Congress Working Committee meeting here, Kharge also said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was a “well-planned conspiracy” to limit democratic rights.
He said the CWC meeting was being held at a time when the democracy, Constitution and citizens’ rights were under serious threat.
Kharge said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was a visionary legislation of the UPA government, which was appreciated across the world. The scheme was named after Mahatma Gandhi due to the impact it had, he said.
“Repealing MGNREGA is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi,” he said, calling it an attack on the Right to Work.
“The Modi government has, without any study, evaluation or consultation with states and political parties, repealed the law. The government’s move should be protested against across the country,” he said.
The Congress chief cited precedents, including the 2015 amendments to India’s land acquisition law that were effectively rolled back. He also quoted the three farm laws, which were first brought in as ordinances and then passed in Parliament amid opposition protests, but had to be repealed following the 2020-21 farmers’ protests.
“Rahul Gandhi had predicted long ago that the farm laws would be taken back. Now, he has said that the MGNREGA would have to be brought back,” Kharge said, “It is our collective responsibility to make concrete plans on MGNREGA and launch a nationwide public campaign.”
He said people are looking towards the Congress in this “difficult situation”.
On the SIR exercise, the Congress leader said it is a serious issue, and a well-planned conspiracy to limit people’s democratic rights.
“Rahul ji has presented several examples and facts on ‘vote chori’ (vote theft). There is a collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission. We have to ensure that the names of our voters are not deleted. We also need to ensure that the names of Dalits, tribals, extremely backward classes and minorities are not deleted or transferred to other booths. For this, our booth-level agents will have to go house to house,” he said.
He called on party members to start working in states that will go to polls in 2027.
Kharge also condemned the attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, and said that the entire nation is concerned over it.
He added that the attacks on Christmas Day celebrations by “organisations linked to the BJP and RSS” have disturbed communal harmony and tainted India’s image globally.
The CWC meeting, held for the first time since the Mahagathbandhan’s defeat in Bihar assembly polls, is being attended by top party leaders including former party president Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and party general secretary K C Venugopal, among others. Party leader Shashi Tharoor was also present at the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, the top party leaders paid tribute to former prime minister Manmohan Singh. They also observed two-minute silence to pay respects to late Congress leaders Shivraj Patil and Sriprakash Jaiswal.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi trained his guns at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre over the VB-G RAM G Act, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “single-handedly” carried out a devastating attack on states and the poor, “much like demonetisation”.
“The prime minister single-handedly destroyed MGNREGA without asking his Cabinet, without studying the matter,” he said.
“We are going to resist it. I am confident that the entire opposition will be aligned with us,” he said, referring to the Congress’ ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ that it plans to launch nationwide on January 5.
Claiming that the UPA-era MGNREGA was not just a work programme, rather a development framework appreciated around the world, Gandhi claimed that its repeal was an attack on rights-based approach and on the country’s federal structure.
“It is a devastating attack on states and the poor people, carried out by the prime minister single-handedly, much like demonetisation. The PM single-handedly destroyed MGNREGA without asking his Cabinet, without studying the matter,” he said.
The VB-G RAM G Bill, replacing the 20-year-old MGNREGA, was passed in Parliament during the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament amid vociferous protests by the opposition. The new act has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers.
(With inputs from PTI.)
