Insult to Gandhi: Indian opposition slams BJP bid to replace MGNREGA, protests outside Parliament
New Delhi: Indian opposition parties on Tuesday staged a protest outside Parliament, holding placards and raising slogans against the BJP-led government over its move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
According to Kashmir Media Service, the protest followed the introduction of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), 2025 Bill that seeks to replace nearly two decades guarantee scheme. Indian Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, triggering sharp opposition and widespread criticism.
Opposition MPs objected to the renaming of the flagship employment programme and marched within the Parliamentary premises to the statue of Gandhi, where they continued their protest. They said that the BJP government was removing the name of the Father of the Nation from the rural employment scheme.
“The truth is that under the pretext of changing the scheme’s name, they want to scrap it. Why do they want to change the name of this scheme? Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation,” Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told reporters during the protest.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the logic behind the renaming, asking how the change would benefit farmers, saying the politics of renaming “first started in Uttar Pradesh, and now it has arrived in Delhi also.”
Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal and Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad also strongly criticised the Modi government, terming the move an insult to Gandhi and an attempt to undermine a vital social security programme.
The opposition asserted that replacing MGNREGA and removing Gandhi’s name reflected a deeper attempt by the BJP to dilute a crucial employment guarantee programme.
