Speaking in his parliamentary constituency, Gandhi alleged that the BJP-led government was deliberately weakening the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to divert public funds towards large corporates such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. He claimed the government’s intent was to “starve the poor” by reducing employment security for labourers and rural households.
Gandhi also accused the Centre of insulting Mahatma Gandhi by removing his name from the MGNREGA legislation. However, he said the larger concern was not the nomenclature but the dilution of protections the law once ensured. “The real issue is that the security given to the poor has been destroyed,” he said, adding that Congress would continue to fight to safeguard the rights of workers and vulnerable communities.
Asserting that the Congress has launched a nationwide movement to protect MGNREGA, Gandhi said the scheme was being “slowly strangled” because the government could not dismantle it openly. He alleged that funds meant for workers and women were being redirected to benefit a handful of industrialists, a charge the BJP has repeatedly denied in the past.
Escalating his criticism, the Congress leader claimed that the RSS and BJP wanted to abolish the Constitution and erase the ideas of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. He warned that such an approach would push the country towards a pre-Independence era marked by loss of rights, land dispossession and economic exploitation. Gandhi called on citizens to unite to protect constitutional values and democratic institutions.
During the visit, Gandhi inaugurated the Raebareli Premier League T-20 cricket tournament and interacted with players, symbolically engaging with youth and local communities. He also held meetings with Congress and Samajwadi Party workers, participated in a village-level interaction, and met MGNREGA workers to hear their grievances.
This was Gandhi’s sixth visit to Raebareli since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, underscoring his continued political focus on the constituency. Concluding his remarks, he alleged that governance under the BJP favoured corporate interests over farmers and labourers, warning that such policies could cause long-term harm to the country.
