G RAM G Must Go, Asserts Revanth

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday announced that the Congress will organise a series of public meetings across Telangana, except in Hyderabad, from February 3 to protest against the renaming and dilution of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by the BJP-led government at the Centre. He said the agitation would be intensified and continued until the Centre withdrew the newly introduced VB-G RAM G scheme and fully restored the MGNREGS.

The Chief Minister said AICC leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge would be invited to a public meeting proposed to be held in Mulugu as part of the campaign.

Addressing a joint meeting of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) executive and the Political Affairs Committees (PAC) at Gandhi Bhavan, the Chief Minister alleged that there was a larger conspiracy behind both the changes to the MGNREGS and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being implemented during the Modi regime.

Revanth Reddy directed party leaders to organise gram sabhas in all 12,000-plus gram panchayats in the state between January 20 and 30 and pass resolutions opposing the G RAM G Act. He said the MLAs would be responsible for coordinating the programme in their respective constituencies, while ministers would oversee implementation on a constituency-wise basis. An in-charge would be appointed for every mandal, and he would take responsibility for one mandal as part of the campaign.

Launching a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led government at the Centre, Revanth Reddy said nearly 80 per cent of India’s population had benefited from the employment guarantee scheme introduced by the Congress.

He accused the Modi government of troubling the poor by altering the scheme. He recalled that during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had harboured plans to change the Constitution if it secured an overwhelming majority, and that's why Modi appealed to voters to give 400 seats in the Lok Sabha.

He said Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge had travelled extensively across the country to alert people and prevent the nation from being “handed over to corporate interests.”

The MGNREGA scheme, he said, had enhanced the dignity and self-respect of the poor, with the Telugu States playing a key role in its launch and implementation. He alleged that changes were being made to facilitate the hiring of workers at lower wages by large corporate groups like Ambanis and Adanis.

Revanth Reddy also questioned the very nomenclature of VB-G RAM G, asking where the promise of a “Viksit Bharat” was visible. He said the Telangana Assembly had adopted a unanimous resolution opposing the changes to MGNREGS and called upon state MPs to raise the issue on the first day of the upcoming Parliament Budget Session in February.

Criticising the SIR, the Chief Minister claimed it was aimed at curtailing the rights of the poor and minorities under the guise of voter purification. He warned that depriving people of their voting rights could eventually affect access to ration cards, Aadhaar and welfare benefits.

Accusing the Centre of attempting to centralise extraordinary powers, he reiterated that the Congress would continue its fight, recalling how farm laws were withdrawn following sustained protests led by Rahul Gandhi.

Revanth Reddy said Telangana had always stood with the Congress and asserted that Rahul Gandhi should be made the Prime Minister at a time when the country was facing serious challenges. He called upon party workers to work unitedly to defeat the BJP and ensure the Congress’s return to power at the Centre with Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister.