Telangana-wide agitation against changes to MGNREGS; Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to be invited

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy sensed a deep-rooted conspiracy to weaken the poor by targeting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and voter rights, and announced that massive public meetings would be held in nine districts from February 3, with senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to be invited to a major rally in Mulugu.

Addressing party leaders and workers at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, Mr. Reddy said that nearly 80% of India’s 140-crore population depended on MGNREGS and accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government of using its legislative strength to undermine the poor.

Central Government proposed to replace MGNREGS with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or  VB G-RAM G Bill, which was passed in Parliament. The Bill received President’s assent on December 21, 2025.

The Chief Minister said the [MGNREGS] scheme introduced by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ms. Sonia Gandhi during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, had restored dignity and self-respect to millions and reminded that the Telugu States had played a key role in its launch and implementation.

Alleging a corporate-backed conspiracy, he said changes were being proposed to MGNREGS to provide cheap labour to big companies, accusing Prime Minister Modi of siding with corporate interests. Drawing parallels with the now-repealed farm laws, he said Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s sustained struggle had forced the Prime Minister to apologise to farmers and withdraw the legislation. He predicted a similar situation now.

The Chief Minister announced a statewide agitation against changes to MGNREGS, noting that the Telangana Assembly had already passed a unanimous resolution opposing the move. He called for Gram Sabhas in every village to pass resolutions against the proposed law from January 20 to 30. MLAs and Ministers were assigned constituency-wise responsibilities, while mandal-level in-charges would oversee the campaign.

These will be followed by massive meetings in nine erstwhile districts. He also urged State MPs to protest on the first day of the upcoming Parliament Budget Session.

Mr. Reddy raised serious objections to the voter verification exercise introduced under the name Special Intensive Revision (SIR), alleging that it was being used to delete the voting rights of the poor and minorities. He warned that loss of voting rights could also result in denial of welfare benefits such as ration cards and Aadhaar-linked schemes.

Highlighting the Congress party’s recent successes, Mr. Reddy said the party had won 66% of the seats in the recently held Sarpanch elections and expressed confidence of a clean sweep in the forthcoming Municipal polls. Stressing the role of party workers, he pledged to campaign door-to-door for their victory.