The Congress will launch a nationwide mass movement from January 5 to defend the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), party president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Kharge said the party had taken a collective pledge to make MGNREGA the central focus of a sustained national campaign. “We decided to launch a massive movement across the country. The Indian National Congress will take a leading role and start the MGNREGA Save Campaign from January 5,” he said.
Calling the scheme a constitutional guarantee, Kharge said MGNREGA was “not just a welfare programme but a right to work granted by the Constitution of India”. He added that the party would “democratically oppose every conspiracy to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from MGNREGA”.
Kharge accuses Modi government of weakening MGNREGA
Earlier, while delivering his opening remarks at the CWC meeting, Kharge accused the Narendra Modi government of weakening and effectively dismantling MGNREGA, describing it as a “deliberate and cruel assault” on the poor.
He alleged that the government had scrapped the law without consultation or evaluation, leaving crores of vulnerable people without employment support. Kharge said the move amounted to an attack on the constitutional right to work under Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy and an insult to Mahatma Gandhi.
He also drew parallels with the now-repealed farm laws, claiming the government followed a similar approach of imposing legislation without dialogue.
Congress recalls UPA-era welfare laws, cites global praise for scheme
Kharge said landmark welfare legislations, including the Right to Work, Right to Food and Right to Education, were introduced during the UPA years, and expressed regret that one of the world’s largest rural employment programmes was being undermined.
He noted that MGNREGA, launched in 2006 by Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had helped curb migration and empowered Dalits, Adivasis, women and landless labourers. The scheme, he said, had been widely praised at international forums as a transformative policy for rural livelihoods.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Kharge argued that privilege and monopoly could never serve the masses, alleging that the present government prioritised the interests of a few large corporates over the welfare of the poor.
Nationwide protest strategy and organisational push
Kharge said the Congress would draw up a concrete action plan to lead a sustained, organised movement across states, asserting that vulnerable sections of society were looking towards the party for leadership.
He also referred to Rahul Gandhi’s view that the government would ultimately be forced to restore MGNREGA, adding that India’s democratic history showed that “no dictator could permanently snatch away people’s rights”.
On organisational matters, Kharge said the party’s ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’, launched from Belagavi last year, had already seen new district presidents appointed in nearly 500 districts, with the remaining process to be completed within the next 120 days.
He stressed the need to strengthen the party organisation ahead of Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in 2026.
Electoral roll revision, agencies and regional concerns
Kharge also raised concerns over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, alleging a conspiracy to curtail democratic rights. He urged party workers to ensure that the names of poor and marginalised voters, including Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes and minorities, were not deleted or shifted.
Condemning the alleged misuse of central agencies such as the ED, IT and CBI against opposition leaders, he said the Congress would continue to fight its legal battles.
Kharge further expressed concern over recent attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and accused the BJP of attempting to disturb communal harmony in India during Christmas celebrations, saying such incidents harmed the country’s global image.