MGNREGA name change row: Rahul Gandhi calls new bill ‘anti-poor’; accuses Centre of insulting Mahatma Gandhi

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday accused the Modi government of attempting to scrap the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), calling it an insult to Mahatma Gandhi. He said it is a clear attempt by the government to destroy the rights of the rural poor.

In a post on social media platform X, Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds deep dislike for the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and for the rights of economically weaker sections. He described MGNREGA as the living embodiment of Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj, stating that the scheme has served as a lifeline for millions of rural Indians and acted as a crucial economic safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Modi ji has a deep dislike for two things – the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the rights of the poor.

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MGNREGA is the living embodiment of Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj. It has been a lifeline for millions of rural Indians and proved to be a crucial economic safety net…

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 16, 2025

Gandhi claimed that the employment guarantee scheme has consistently unsettled the Prime Minister and alleged that the government has systematically attempted to weaken it over the past decade. “This scheme has always unsettled PM Modi. For the past ten years, his government has systematically tried to weaken it. Today, he is determined to erase MGNREGA altogether,” the Congress leader said.

Highlighting the core principles of the scheme, Gandhi said MGNREGA was founded to secure the right to employment for those seeking work, autonomy for villages to decide their development works, and full wage support by the Central Government along with 75 per cent of material costs.

He alleged that the Centre now intends to convert MGNREGA into a tool of centralised control through the proposed bill. According to Gandhi, the new framework would allow the Centre to dictate budgets, schemes, and rules and compel states to bear 40 per cent of the costs. He stressed that this would lead to workers being denied employment for extended periods once funds are exhausted or during the harvest season.

Terming the proposed legislation as a direct attack on Mahatma Gandhi’s vision, Rahul Gandhi targeted the government for failing to address unemployment among the youth and targeting the livelihoods of poor rural families.

He asserted that Congress would resist the government’s anti-people move both inside and outside Parliament. “From Sadak to Sansad, we will oppose this anti-people bill,” Gandhi said.