‘Ram ka naam badnam na karo’: Tharoor sides with Congress in G Ram G row

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who has lately been making remarks in favour of the Modi government, on Tuesday appeared to make a subtle shift in his stance after he slammed the ruling BJP replacement and renaming of the rural job guarantee scheme -- MGNREGA.

Tharoor took exception to the BJP's move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) scheme with the Viksit Bharat -- Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G Ram G.

Speaking in Lok Sabha this afternoon, Tharoor opposed to the new bill -- G Ram G -- which offers 25 extra days of paid work but puts 40 per cent of that financial burden on states and said it is "immoral" to remove Mahatma Gandhi's name and at the same time urged the government to not "sully Ram's name".

'Assault on very spirit of crucial programme'

The senior Congress leader, who appeared to be at loggerheads with his own party after his recent remarks praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, called out the "ill-advised" decision to remove the name of the Father of the Nation. Tharoor said that this is not just an administrative tweak but an "assault" on the very spirit and philosophical foundation of the crucial programme.

"I would like to oppose the introduction of the proposed bill, the VB–G RAM G Bill, which represents a deeply regrettable and retrograde step for our nation and for our nation’s commitment to the welfare of its most vulnerable citizens," he said.

"Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Ram Rajya was never a purely political project. It was a socio-economic blueprint rooted in the empowerment of villages, and his unwavering faith in Gram Swaraj was central to that vision. The original Act, by bearing his name, acknowledged this profound connection—that true employment guarantee and upliftment must flow from the grassroots, embodying his principle of placing the last person first. To remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi is to strip the bill of its moral compass and historical legitimacy," he added.

Tharoor opposes financial restructuring

He also questioned the financial restructuring proposed in the bill. The VB-G Ram G bill proposes to impose 40 per cent of the overall costs on state governments. Tharoor said this massive shift in liability will "inevitably make implementation impossible for poorer states and will lead to delays in wage payments, a reduction in the number of workdays, and ultimately the destruction of the scheme itself."

He further said that the bill "fundamentally alters the very nature" of the programme by allowing the Union to decide when and where it will operate. The new bill allows the Centre to decide the fund allocation beforehand.

Priyanka mounts attack at govt

Besides Tharoor, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also opposed the government's move and called for withdrawal of the bill. She questioned the need for changing the scheme, pointing out the MGNREGA has been had been helping in boosting the rural economy for the last 20 years.

Sharpening her attack at the government, she said in the Lok Sabha, "I register my strong objection, MGNREGA has been successful in providing livelihood to rural India and strengthening the rural economy for 20 years. This is such a revolutionary law that when it was brought, all political parties in parliament supported it. This provides 100 days of employment in a year to the poorest of the poor in this country."

What is MGNREGA scheme

The MGNREGA, a centrally sponsored scheme, was enacted by the Congress-led UPA government in 2005. It aims at enhancing the livelihood security of rural households across the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.