"'Ram' On Lips, Dagger In Heart": Shivraj Chouhan Slams Congress On G Ram G

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Thursday the opposition's conduct in Parliament had "tarnished democracy". Referring to the ruckus that followed Lok Sabha passing the G RAM G bill, which will replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MNREGA, he said, "I am distressed. My heart is heavy. Opposition has transformed democracy into mob rule."

Earlier today opposition lawmakers who wanted the G RAM G bill sent to a standing committee, protested in the Well with photos of Mahatma Gandhi and tore up copies of the bill after Speaker Om Birla vetoed further discussion, and passed the bill with a voice vote.

"Parliament is not a building of bricks and mortar… but a temple of democracy. Meaningful discussions should take place. I listened carefully to what our opposition friends said (during the debate yesterday) and today, I was supposed to answer all the questions," Chouhan said.

"But the kind of undignified behaviour that was displayed… is a betrayal of Bapu's ideals."

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"I strongly condemn the actions of the opposition," Chouhan told reporters, "Today, parliamentary traditions were shattered. Democracy has been turned into mobocracy."

"There have been many schemes for rural development… when MNREGA came. It was not named after Jawaharlal Nehru. So was it an insult to him?" he asked sarcastically.

"The Congress has 'Ram' on its lips but a dagger in its heart…" Chouhan declared.

Defending the government's push to scrap the 20-year-old MNREGA scheme – a flagship employment guarantee initiative enacted by the Congress-led UPA government of the time – Chouhan said, "Earlier, (guaranteed) employment was for 100 days, now it is for 125 days."

The new bill, he said, also includes special provisions for weaker sections of society.

On the changed funding structure – i.e., that states must now contribute 40 per cent to wages instead of the centre paying the full amount, as it was under MNREGA – he argued the federal government still pays the lion's share at over Rs 95,000 crore of the proposed Rs 1.51 lakh crore.

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During the brief time discussions were held on the G RAM G bill today, Chouhan also countered criticism by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra about the government's 'renaming craze'.

After the House was adjourned, Priyanka Gandhi said the opposition would continue to strongly oppose the bill, telling reporters, "Anyone who reads it will understand how the rural employment guarantee scheme is about to finish. It puts the funding burden on states… but states don't have money. MGNREGA supports the poorest of the poor. This bill is anti-poor!"