TMC MPs protest MGNREGA name change, accuses Centre of ‘desecrating’ scheme’s soul

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs on Thursday staged a protest in the national capital, holding portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore to oppose what they described as the BJP’s attempt to “erase” Gandhiji’s name from the MGNREGA scheme.

The ruling party in Bengal also alleged that the BJP pushed through the VB-G RAM G Bill in the Lok Sabha by abusing its “brute numerical majority” and “trampling” upon every democratic norm in the process.

It also alleged that after illegally choking Bengal’s MGNREGA funds and depriving millions of rural workers, the Centre has now moved to “desecrate” the very soul of the scheme. “This is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi.

This is an insult to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. And this is a deliberate, cold-blooded assault on India’s poorest citizens,” alleged the protesting MPs. Our Hon’ble MPs stood shoulder to shoulder with the Opposition to protest @BJP4India’s shameless attempt to erase Gandhiji’s name from MGNREGA, holding aloft the images of Mahatma Gandhi and Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore as a reminder of what this country once stood for, and what BJP is determined to dismantle,” TMC wrote in its post on X. It termed the move an attempt to rewrite history. “This is what happens when a party with no legacy of sacrifice tries to rewrite history. When those who had no role in the freedom struggle attempt to bulldoze its symbols. When a government that thrives on cruelty decides that even the hungry must pay the price for its electoral failures,” the party stated on X.

“Despite fierce and reasoned opposition, @BJP4India steamrolled the VB-G RAM G Bill through the Lok Sabha, abusing its brute numerical majority and trampling every democratic norm in the process,” Trinamool added.

“For years, BJP has made it its mission to strangle the lifeline of India’s rural poor. First, they froze the scheme.

Then, driven by political vendetta, they withheld wages from millions of job card holders. Next, they attempted to distort the scheme’s founding principles. And now, they have crossed the final red line, gutting its very soul by erasing Mahatma Gandhi’s name,” posted TMC.