CPIM leader Jitendra Chaudhury accuses RSS and BJP of targeting secular voices while slamming the GRAMG Act for dismantling MGNREGA’s employment guarantee, disrespecting Mahatma Gandhi, and weakening rural workers’ rights across India.
Senior CPIM leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Jitendra Chaudhury on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that both organisations perceive all secular and democratic voices in the country as ideological enemies and are systematically working to eliminate them from the public sphere.
Chaudhury was addressing a protest rally-cum-public meeting organised by the Left Front to condemn the newly enacted GRAMG Act, which has replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The event witnessed participation from party workers, supporters, and members of civil society who raised concerns over the implications of the revised legislation on rural livelihoods and democratic values.
Speaking to the gathering, Chaudhury said that although Mahatma Gandhi and the Left movement had ideological differences, Gandhi’s ideas on rural development, social justice, secularism, and pluralism were universally respected across political and social divides. He described Gandhi as the moral foundation of the nation whose principles continue to inspire millions, especially the rural poor.
“When the UPA government introduced MGNREGA, the Left parties extended their full support because the scheme embodied the values of employment guarantee, dignity of labour, and social security,” Chaudhury stated. “Renaming and replacing such a historic legislation with the GRAMG Act is not merely an administrative change; it is an ideological attack on the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and the constitutional values he stood for.”
The LoP alleged that the present government could not accept the continuation of a centrally sponsored welfare scheme named after Gandhi because of its ideological discomfort with his philosophy. According to him, the scheme directly benefited nearly 70 crore people across the country, strengthening rural democracy and economic independence, which, he claimed, goes against the political interests of the ruling establishment.
Chaudhury further courted controversy by drawing a direct ideological link between the RSS, BJP, and Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He alleged that leaders of the ruling party have consistently failed to condemn Godse and that some have even glorified him in public forums.
“Seldom do we hear BJP leaders openly criticising Godse. Instead, there are repeated attempts to normalise or glorify him,” Chaudhury said. “This ideological inclination explains why the ruling party is uncomfortable with welfare schemes that carry Gandhi’s name and philosophy.”
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP’s governance record, Chaudhury reminded the audience of the promises made in the party’s 2018 election manifesto. He said the BJP had pledged to provide 200 days of employment under MGNREGA with a doubled daily wage of Rs 340. However, he alleged that the new GRAMG Act has completely diluted the core principle of employment guarantee.
“Earlier, any registered beneficiary could demand work, and the government was legally bound to provide employment within 15 days,” he explained. “That obligation has now been repealed. The guarantee has been erased, turning a rights-based law into a discretionary scheme.”
The CPIM leader also raised serious concerns about the scope for corruption under the revised act. He claimed that the introduction of complex technical provisions has widened opportunities for fund misappropriation, allegedly benefiting the ruling party and its affiliates rather than genuine rural workers.
Chaudhury strongly criticised the provision allowing suspension of work for up to two months, calling it anti-worker and pro-landlord. He alleged that the central government intentionally plans to halt employment generation during peak agricultural seasons so that rural labourers are forced to work for large landowners at suppressed wages.
| Also Read: Sudhangshu Das Leads High-Level Review to Fast-Track District Growth |
“This provision ensures that big farmers and landlords get cheap labour during harvest season, while workers are deprived of their rightful employment under a government scheme,” he said, adding that such policies deepen inequality and exploitation in rural India.
The Left Front leader concluded his address by asserting that the struggle against the GRAMG Act is part of a larger fight to protect democracy, secularism, and constitutional rights. He called upon people from all walks of life to unite against what he described as an authoritarian and anti-people agenda of the ruling dispensation.
