Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 27: The Congress will launch on January 5 a nation-wide campaign against the VB – G RAM G act that replaced the UPA government’s flagship rural employment scheme “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee ACT” (MGNREGA) with the party president Mallikarjun Kharge warning that people were angry and the Narendra Modi government would have to face the consequences for the move.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest policy making body, held in Delhi on Saturday. Top Congress leaders met on Saturday to discuss several key issues including ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories, the new G RAM G bill which was passed in the Parliament during the winter session to replace MGNREGA, and also the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh among other issues.
Besides Mr Kharge, the former presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and others attended the CWC meeting. The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB – G RAM G) was passed by Parliament during the just-concluded winter session amidst vociferous protests by the Opposition. The new act has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers.
After the CWC meeting, Mr Kharge told the media persons that the party would lead the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ across the country. He said MGNREGA was not just a scheme, but the ‘Right to Work’ given by the Constitution. “People are angry over the repeal of MGNREGA; the government will have to face the consequences,” he said.
“At the CWC meeting, we took an oath that a campaign would be launched with MGNREGA as its focal point. The Congress would take the lead and start a “MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan” from January 5,” Mr Kharge said. “We took an oath that we will democratically oppose every conspiracy to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from MGNREGA and to turn workers’ rights into charity. With faith in the Constitution and democracy, we pledge to protect MGNREGA, safeguard workers’ rights, and raise our voices in every village. With the slogans of ‘Jai Samvidhan’ and ‘Jai Hind’, we have collectively accepted this resolve,” Mr Kharge added.
Referring to the cost-sharing clause between the Centre and state governments under the VB-G RAM G Act, the Congress chief said states would have an additional expenditure burden and termed it a one-sided decision taken without consultation. “This law has been brought to crush the poor; we will fight against it on the streets and in Parliament,” he said.
Mr Kharge said the 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 the MGNREGA would have to be brought back,” Mr 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 was 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. Mr 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.
Mr Tharoor attended the CWC meeting despite once again stirring another controversy within the party after reportedly saying that rejoicing at the PM’s defeat was akin to celebrating India’s defeat. Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao on Saturday rejected Tharoor’s statement, saying that “the party (Congress) does not think this way.”
And despite the BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla calling Shashi Tharoor courageous for his statement and hoped the Congress would not take action against Tharoor, Mr Rao attributed his remarks to the party’s democratic structure, adding that there would have been action if similar statements were made by members of another party. “We have democracy here, so everyone expresses their views. If another party made such statements, there would be swift action, but we have democracy here. This may be his thinking, but the party does not think that way…,” Mr Rao said.
Meanwhile, in a major political twist in the Mattathur panchayat in Kerala’s Thrissur district, all eight elected Congress members resigned en masse and joined hands with the BJP to take control of the council. With the BJP’s support, Tessy Jose Kallaraykkal, a Congress rebel elected as an independent, has now become the new panchayat president heading a newly formed front, ending the 23-year rule of the Left in Mattathur.
The results of the 24-member panchayat were tight: Left Democratic Front (LDF) 10, United Democratic Front (UDF) 8, NDA 4, and 2 Independents. Because both sides were close, even a draw of lots was being considered to choose the President. The UDF had decided to support KR Ouseph, an independent who won as a Congress rebel. But just before the election for the Panchayat president, Ouseph joined hands with the LDF, leaving Congress leaders shocked.
Angered by this, all eight Congress members quit the party. They said in their resignation letters that the local Congress leadership had acted unfairly and ignored loyal workers. After quitting, they decided to support Tessy Jose as an Independent candidate. The BJP also supported her with three votes (one BJP vote was invalid), and she won with 12 members backing her.
This situation has shocked both the Congress and the Left, and a Congress rebel becoming President with the BJP’s help has created a new political alliance that no one expected. So far, the Congress has not taken action against the eight members who quit, and the BJP has only said the decision “respects the council’s mandate.” The Congress workers in Thrissur said the Mattathur outcome was symptomatic of serious internal problems in the Congress and warn there may be repeats in other places if the leadership did not step in.
