Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday described the controversy surrounding the proposed renaming and restructuring of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as “unfortunate,” amid strong Opposition criticism of the Centre’s move.
Reacting to the proposed Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, also referred to as the VB–G RAM G Bill, Tharoor said the problem lay more in how the issue was being presented rather than in the act of renaming itself.
In a post on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP argued that the ideas being invoked in the debate were not at odds with Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy. He noted that the principles of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were deeply interconnected in Gandhian thought.
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…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 15, 2025
“The concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces; they were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness,” Tharoor wrote, adding that portraying the proposed change as a rejection of Gandhi’s legacy overlooked this deeper philosophical harmony.
He cautioned against creating an artificial divide, pointing out that Gandhi’s life and ideals symbolised unity, not contradiction, and that invoking such binaries distorted the essence of his beliefs.
Opposition protests MGNREGA overhaul
Tharoor’s remarks come as the Congress and other Opposition parties continue to criticise the Narendra Modi-led government over the proposed legislation, which seeks to repeal MGNREGA and introduce a new rural employment framework aligned with the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
Under the new proposal, rural households would be entitled to a statutory guarantee of 125 days of unskilled manual work annually. However, the Bill also proposes major administrative and financial changes, including increased cost-sharing by states and the formation of new central and state-level councils to monitor implementation.
Questions over Tharoor’s party engagements
Tharoor’s intervention has also drawn attention due to his recent absences from key Congress meetings. Last week, he did not attend a meeting of Congress Lok Sabha MPs chaired by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, citing prior commitments, according to party sources.
On the same day, Tharoor was seen in Kolkata at an event organised by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation, where he spoke on women’s rights and participated in a cultural programme.
This was not an isolated instance. In recent weeks, the Kerala MP has missed multiple party meetings, including a Congress Working Committee-related gathering ahead of the winter session of Parliament and another meeting focused on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, citing travel and health reasons.
These absences have attracted notice, particularly as Tharoor has attended several high-profile events during the same period, including a lecture by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a state banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in honour of visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.