‘This is a BJP-RSS conspiracy to end MGNREGA’: Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday took aim at the proposed repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), calling it part of a broader BJP-RSS agenda.

Kharge’s remarks came after a new bill seeking to replace MGNREGA was listed in the Lok Sabha’s supplementary list of business issued on Monday. The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, proposes a new rural employment law in place of the existing Act.

Kharge alleged that the move was not merely about a change in name but an attempt to dismantle the existing law. “This is not just about renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. This is a BJP-RSS conspiracy to end MGNREGA,” he wrote.

He also linked the proposal to what he described as an effort to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy from public policy, particularly during a symbolic year. Kharge wrote, “Erasing Gandhi's name on the centenary of the Sangh shows how hollow and hypocritical those are who, like Modi ji, offer flowers to Bapu on foreign soil.”

Kharge further accused the government of acting against the interests of the poor and marginalised sections. He added, “The government that recoils from the rights of the poor is the one that attacks MGNREGA.”

Stressing the Congress party’s stand, Kharge said the opposition would resist the proposed law through both parliamentary and public action. “The Congress Party will strongly oppose in Parliament and on the streets any such decision of this arrogant regime that is against the poor and workers,” he remarked.

Concluding his statement, Kharge warned against any move that could weaken employment rights for rural households. “We will not allow the rights of crores of poor people, laborers, and workers to be snatched away by those in power,” he said.

The bill aims to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 and introduce what it describes as a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. Under the proposed law, rural households would receive a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year for adults willing to undertake unskilled manual work.

MGNREGA, which was passed as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in 2005 and renamed in 2009, provides up to 100 days of wage employment for unskilled labour.

(with inputs from PTI)