Belagavi, 17 Dec

The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Wednesday staged a protest against the Centre’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and what it called “hate politics” against party leaders in the National Herald case.

The agitation, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, was held in front of the Gandhi statue at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here. Ministers, Congress MLAs and MLCs participated.

Siddaramaiah accused the BJP-led Centre of misusing power and targeting the Congress through “vendetta politics”, citing cases against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

“The trial court’s refusal to take cognisance of the ED chargesheet in the National Herald case exposes how central agencies are being misused to harass political opponents,” he said, adding that the party stood in “moral solidarity” with the Gandhi family.

The chief minister also criticised the Centre for what he described as a focus on renaming schemes instead of addressing poverty. “MGNREGA has been renamed as VB-G RAM G. Raj Bhavan has become Lok Bhavan. Renaming government properties does not help the poor,” he said.

Shivakumar challenged the BJP to go further if it believed in removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name. “If they have the guts, let them remove Gandhi’s photo from the rupee note. We will raise this issue in the Assembly,” he told PTI.

Calling the proposed replacement of MGNREGA a “national issue”, Shivakumar said the scheme was backed by a constitutional amendment and could not be changed lightly.

He welcomed the Delhi court’s decision refusing to take cognisance of the ED’s money laundering complaint in the National Herald case, calling it a lesson for the BJP and central agencies.

“Justice has prevailed. This misuse of power has damaged the credibility of the ED,” he said, adding that several cases against opposition leaders were politically motivated.

Shivakumar also referred to a notice issued to him by Delhi Police in connection with the case, alleging procedural lapses. “I asked for a copy of the FIR, but it was not provided,” he said.

The Congress plans to raise both the MGNREGA issue and the National Herald case in the state legislature.

The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which seeks to replace MGNREGA, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid opposition objections to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the law.