Like demonetisation, PM Modi ‘single-handedly’ destroyed MGNREGA, says Congress; BJP fires back

THe us congress on sat proclaimed a nationwide tempestuousness against the repeal of the Mahatma mrs. Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “single-handedly destroying” the landmark UPA-era law and warning that the move would severely damage the rural economy.Hours after the Congress party's press conference, Union minister for rural development and agriculture and farmers’ welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan hit back, accusing the grand old party of political posturing, and shedding “crocodile tears”.The Congress’s announcement of mega protests from January 5 comes days after Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, replacing the 20-year-old MGNREGA. The Bill was cleared during the Winter Session amid strong protests by opposition parties.‘Congress froze wages’, says rural development ministerChouhan said Congress leaders were shedding “crocodile tears” after the passage of the new law. “The Congress's clamour is purely political. Congress lacked both the intent and the policy,” he wrote in a lengthy post on X.“This is the same Congress that appended Mahatma Gandhi's name for electoral gains. This is the same Congress that, from time to time, reduced the budget for MGNREGA. This is the same Congress that froze wages. Today, Congress leaders are shedding crocodile tears,” Shivraj Chouhan said.He added that the Congress was now opposing reforms that focus on technology, transparency and timely payments, ensuring that money reaches directly into workers’ accounts.He added that portraying these changes as an attack was misleading, and insisted that the new framework aimed to strengthen employment and livelihood support in rural areas.MGNREGA was 'right to work'Addressing a press conference after a nearly three-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress' nationwide ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’, would mirror the protests against the three central farm laws that were eventually rolled back after sustained opposition. He said rallies will be planned across the country.Kharge added that the MGNREGA was not merely a welfare scheme but the constitutional “Right to Work”.Reiterating the party’s stand, Kharge said, “At the CWC meeting, we took an oath that a campaign would be launched with MGNREGA as its focal point. “While keeping full faith in the Constitution and Indian democracy, we will protect the MGNREGA, the rights of India's workers and take our voice to every last village,” read the oath taken by Kharge at the CWC meeting.He added, “People are angry over the repeal of MGNREGA and the government will have to face the consequences.”Rahul Gandhi likens move to demonetisationLeader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the repeal amounted to a direct assault on states and the poor, drawing parallels with the 2016 demonetisation decision.“The prime minister single-handedly destroyed MGNREGA without asking his Cabinet, and without studying the matter,” Gandhi said in the CWC meet.Calling it an attack on India’s federal structure, he said it was a “devastating attack on states and poor people, carried out by the prime minister single-handedly, much like demonetisation”.“I am confident that the entire opposition will stand united against this action,” the LoP added.In a post in Hindi on X later in the day, he alleged, “There is only one purpose behind the end of MGNREGA -- to erase the right to employment for the poor, to steal economic and political power from the states, and to hand over that money to billionaire friends.”“The entire country will bear the cost of the whims of the ‘lone ranger’ Prime Minister. Jobs will end, and the rural economy will collapse. When villages weaken, the country will weaken,” he added.Gandhi also claimed the decision would cause “tremendous pain to the weaker sections, to Adivasis, to Dalits, to OBCs, to poor general castes, and to minorities”, while alleging that it would “benefit Mr Adani in full measure”.