New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday announced a nationwide protest campaign titled ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ (Save MGNREGA campaign), vowing to oppose the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and accusing the BJP-led Union government of dismantling a landmark welfare law that protected rural livelihoods. The campaign will be launched on January 5, 2026, and will involve protests, marches and public programmes across the country at the state, district, mandal and village levels.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in New Delhi, chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by senior leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. While the meeting also discussed issues such as attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, incidents involving Christians in India during Christmas, organisational restructuring, and preparations for upcoming Assembly elections, the repeal of MGNREGA dominated the deliberations.

Strong opposition to repeal of MGNREGA

The Congress leadership sharply criticised the Union government for repealing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, and replacing it with the ‘Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission: VB-G RAM G Act, 2025’, enacted last week. According to the party, the new law fundamentally alters the nature of rural employment support by shifting it from a demand-driven, rights-based programme to a supply-driven scheme, while also transferring a greater financial burden onto state governments.

Addressing the CWC meeting, Kharge accused the Modi government of abandoning the poor and vulnerable. “The Modi government has scrapped MGNREGA, rendering crores of poor and vulnerable people helpless. After kicking the poor in the stomach, the Modi government has stabbed them in the back. Abolishing MGNREGA is an insult to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.

Kharge asserted that MGNREGA had transformed rural India by providing income security, reducing distress migration, and empowering Dalits, Adivasis, women and landless labourers. “There is an entire generation in India that escaped poverty because of MGNREGA — a generation that reached schools, became educated, and is living with dignity,” he added.

Nationwide protests planned

Following the meeting, Kharge announced the launch of the MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan at a joint press conference with Rahul Gandhi. He said protests would be organised across the country to highlight public anger against the repeal and to pressure the government to withdraw the new law.

“People are angry. This law has been brought to crush the poor. We will fight it on the streets and in Parliament,” Kharge said, adding that the Congress would mobilise its cadre at every level to build a mass movement.

The protest programme will include padyatras, demonstrations, public meetings and door-to-door outreach in rural areas, aimed at explaining how the repeal of MGNREGA affects livelihoods, rural infrastructure and state finances.

Rahul Gandhi targets Centre, corporates

Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “single-handedly” destroying a rights-based development framework introduced during the UPA era. He alleged that the decision was taken without consulting the Union Rural Development Minister, the Cabinet, state governments or conducting any serious study on the impact.

“This is going to cause tremendous pain to the weakest sections — Adivasis, Dalits, OBCs, poor general caste people and minorities. And it is going to benefit Adani in full measure. That is the purpose of this — to take money away from poor people and hand it to people like Adani,” Rahul said.

He further described the repeal as an attack on federalism. “This is an attack on the states of India because money that belongs to the states and decision-making power that belongs to the states is being taken away. MGNREGA used to build infrastructure in villages. Its removal is a devastating attack on states and poor people,” he said, comparing the move to demonetisation in terms of its potential social impact.

Rahul expressed confidence that the entire Opposition would come together to resist the new law.

Political and organisational context

The Congress leadership also used the CWC meeting to review organisational matters. Kharge informed leaders that the process of appointing new district presidents had been completed in nearly 500 districts, with the remaining appointments to be finalised within the next 120 days. He urged party workers to make the organisation “active, accountable and combative” down to the booth level.

The party also discussed preparations for the Assembly elections due in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in April–May 2026, and called on workers to gear up for the 2027 elections as well.

Conclusion

With the announcement of the MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan, the Congress has signalled that the repeal of MGNREGA will be a central political plank in the coming months. By framing the issue as one of rural livelihoods, federal rights and social justice, the party aims to galvanise public opinion and mount sustained pressure on the BJP government, setting the stage for a nationwide political confrontation ahead of key elections.