MGNREGA Renaming: Shashi Tharoor First Calls Row Unfortunate, Then Says He Is Against Centre’s Move

Last Updated:December 15, 2025, 18:48 IST

As party leader Priyanka Gandhi slammed Centre, Congress sources said Tharoor should make his position clear. He eventually said he was objecting to replacing the Mahatma’s name

Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. (Image: PTI)

Even as the Congress slammed the Centre over the move to change the name of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), their party leader Shashi Tharoor called the controversy “unfortunate". Congress sources reacted strongly to it, saying the leader should make his position clear.

Tharoor, in a post on X, wrote, “The controversy over renaming MGNREGA in the Govt’s proposed new G-RAM-G Bill is unfortunate. The concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces; they were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness. Replacing the Mahatma’s name in a scheme for the rural poor ignores this profound symbiosis. His final breath was a testament to ‘Ram’; let us not dishonour his legacy by creating a division where none existed."

Congress sources told News18, “We won’t take action, but he is pushing it too far. He needs to make his position and stand clear."

As the noise grew, a netizen questioned Tharoor on X: “Seeking clarity- Is your objection with the renaming or the “controversy" over the renaming?"

Tharoor then clarified further saying: “It’s pretty clear that I am objecting to replacing the Mahatma’s name. Read my tweet. (3rd sentence, in case you couldn’t find it)."

As UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi was the political driver behind the legislation. She had made employment guarantee a core promise of the UPA’s 2004 election manifesto. She chaired the Advisory Council (NAC), which drafted the bill and consistently overruled the objections against it, making MGNREGA the flagship UPA programme.

A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and bring a new law for rural employment — Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 — is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha. According to a copy of the bill, it seeks to introduce the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, in Parliament and repeal the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra: Why remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name?

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday slammed the government over its move to change the name of MGNREGA, asking what is the government’s intention behind removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi who is the tallest leader not just in India but in the world.

Asked about the government’s move, Priyanka Gandhi said, “Whenever the name of a scheme is changed there are so many changes that have to be made in offices, stationery… for which money is spent. So, what is the benefit, why it is being done? Why is Mahatma Gandhi’s name being removed. Mahatma Gandhi is considered the tallest leader not just in the country but in the world, so removing his name, I really don’t understand what is the objective? What is their intention?"

The bill aims at establishing a “rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047", by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. The bill has been listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday.

Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in the statement of purpose of the Bill, said MGNREGA has provided guaranteed wage-employment to rural households over the past 20 years.

However, “further strengthening has become necessary in view of the significant socio-economic transformation witnessed in the rural landscape driven by widespread coverage of the social security interventions and saturation-oriented implementation of major government schemes", he said.

With PTI Inputs

News politics MGNREGA Renaming: Shashi Tharoor First Calls Row Unfortunate, Then Says He Is Against Centre’s Move

Read More