‘Unfortunate’ to Drop Gandhi’s Name: Shashi Tharoor Slams Centre’s Plan to Replace MGNREGA

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday criticised the Centre’s proposal to rename and replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), calling the move “unfortunate” and unnecessary, and arguing that Mahatma Gandhi’s name is central to both the scheme’s identity and its moral foundation.

Reacting to the Narendra Modi-led government’s plan to introduce the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB–G RAM G Bill, 2025, Tharoor said removing Gandhi’s name ignores the historical and philosophical roots of the landmark rural employment programme.

“It’s unfortunate because Mahatma Gandhi had a very, very clear vision of the rural poor, whom he deeply cared for. He spoke about wiping the tear from the poorest person’s eye,” Tharoor said.

‘No conflict with Gandhi’s thought’

In a post on X, Tharoor described the controversy around the change as “unfortunate” and rejected the suggestion that the concepts being invoked under the new scheme were at odds with Gandhi’s ideas.

“The concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces; they were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness,” he wrote, adding that portraying the change as a rejection of Gandhi’s legacy ignored this “profound symbiosis”.

He cautioned against creating “a division where none existed”, noting that Gandhi’s life — and even his final breath invoking “Ram” — symbolised this harmony.

Tharoor later clarified that his criticism was specifically directed at the decision to change the name of the scheme, after some initial ambiguity over whether he was referring to the renaming itself or the political controversy surrounding it.

Row over MGNREGA overhaul

Tharoor’s remarks come amid a growing political row, with the Congress and other Opposition parties mounting a sharp attack on the government over the proposed Bill, which seeks to repeal MGNREGA and replace it with a new rural employment framework aligned with the Centre’s Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.

While the new scheme promises a statutory guarantee of 125 days of unskilled manual work per rural household annually, it also proposes major changes in funding and administration, including higher cost-sharing by states and the creation of new central and state councils to oversee implementation.

Tharoor’s position within Congress in focus

The Kerala MP’s intervention also comes at a time when his relationship with the Congress leadership has drawn attention.

Last Thursday, Tharoor skipped a meeting of Congress Lok Sabha MPs chaired by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, after informing the party of his unavailability, according to party sources quoted by ANI.

On the same day, photographs and social media posts showed Tharoor in Kolkata attending an event organised by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation, where he spoke on women’s rights and even sang on stage with family members.

His absence was the latest in a series of missed party meetings in recent weeks. Tharoor was also absent from a Congress Working Committee-related meeting on November 30, on the eve of Parliament’s winter session, citing travel from Kerala, and from an earlier meeting on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, for which he cited health reasons.

These absences have drawn scrutiny as Tharoor has, during the same period, attended high-profile events where senior Opposition leaders were not present, including a lecture by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a state banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.