The Tamil Nadu Congress on Thursday took out a high-decibel protest march in Chennai's Tambaram, launching a sharp attack on the Centre over replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) with the VB-G Ram G scheme. Senior Congress leaders said the move would severely impact rural livelihoods and accused the BJP-led government of erasing Mahatma Gandhi's legacy from a flagship welfare programme originally launched by the UPA.
The protest march was led by Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief and MLA K Selvaperunthagai, with senior party functionaries, including former MLA Peter Alphonse, joining it. Congress workers marched through Tambaram raising slogans demanding the restoration of MGNREGA, which they called a crucial lifeline for rural India.
Speaking to NDTV, Selvaperunthagai said the job guarantee scheme had provided vital support to millions of families, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when rural employment opportunities had collapsed.
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka added, "This (repealing MGNREGA) would put millions of poor people at the mercy of corporates."
Alphonse alleged that dropping Mahatma Gandhi's name reflected ideological hostility against him and the freedom movement. He called the move an attempt by the BJP to erase Mahatma Gandhi's legacy.
"With 40 per cent of the cost shifted to states, many poor states could abandon the scheme for want of funds," he warned.
The party also questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes unemployment in rural India has ended, arguing that as long as poverty persists, a robust employment guarantee programme remains essential.
The BJP rejected the allegations, stating that the new programme would focus on creating long-term infrastructure assets and delivering more meaningful and sustainable development outcomes. Party representatives accused the Congress of politicising welfare reforms and misleading the public.
Congress leaders also denied that the protest march was intended to pressure the ruling DMK for more seats in the upcoming Assembly elections and insisted that it was entirely about protecting rural workers' rights.
