Hyderabad, Dec 19: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) senior leader T. Harish Rao said on Friday that VB-G Ram G is not merely a name change but a direct attack on India’s federal structure.
He alleged that the BJP-led Centre, under the pretext of a 60:40 funding ratio, is shifting a massive financial burden onto the states and deliberately weakening the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
The former minister stated that Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, is designed to curtail states’ powers and strengthen Central control.
Harish Rao slammed the Congress party for its “silence” on the 60:40 ratio, saying this exposes its hypocrisy.
“While pretending to champion federalism in opposition, Congress quietly supports the BJP measures that would weaken the state. This bill proves that when it comes to centralising power, BJP and Congress stand on the same side. People’s right to employment and states’ autonomy are being undermined together. This is not reform. It is an assault on federalism,” he said.
Earlier, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao termed the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as an unforgivable crime.
He said Congress and the BJP were the same in changing the names of schemes and scrapping them.
KTR said the policies of the BJP that choked the scheme providing employment to rural people are utterly condemnable. “The BJP, which erased the name of the Father of the Nation, has no moral right whatsoever to call itself a national party,” he said.
He also slammed the Congress party for resorting to name changes in Telangana.
“Annapurna canteens, which had nothing to do with party names and were filling the stomachs of the poor for just five rupees, have been changed to Indiramma Canteens. “Isn’t this petty politics by Congress,” he asked.
KTR said “Bathukamma Sarees” symbolised Telangana’s culture, but by halting the scheme, the Congress government hit hard the handloom workers and finally turned it into “Indiramma Sarees”.
The BRS working president also lashed out at Congress for changing the design of the ‘Telangana Thalli’ statue and renaming the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme as ‘Rythu Bharosa’.
IANS
